Airport supporters headed to Columbia

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It's D-Day for supporters of a county airport.

Several county leaders plan to travel to Columbia today to persuade members of the South Carolina Department of Commerce/Aeronautical Commission to free up $22,500 to study if a Cherokee County airport is feasible.

The study would identify potential users, analyze market needs and identify findings, including runway length and width and terminal size. The commission failed to act on the county's application at a recent meeting.

Local leaders cited a lack of local support for the project as the reason for the commission's action. To change that perception, Cherokee County Council, Gaffney City Council, Blacksburg Town Council and the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce have passed resolutions in support of the project.

Cherokee County Councilman Bailey Humphries, a strong proponent of an airport, said local leaders will present the resolutions to the commission.

"We will ask the commission to release the funds," Humphries said. "And I'm optimistic they will do it.

Now we have the resolutions and we didn't have anything like that before."

Humphries said a county airport would be an economic boon for the area as well as create a new revenue source.

Cherokee is the only county in the state without an airport.