Commercial air service at Tahoe possible in two years

STATELINE - When Tony O'Rourke began as city manager in October 2010, one of his priorities was to re-establish commercial air service to the Lake Tahoe Airport. Though it is something he'd still like to accomplish, flights won't be landing any time soon, O'Rourke said.

"(The airport) is certainly overall a great asset," O'Rourke said. "But we need to polish it and refine it to accommodate air service."

While the necessary improvements to the Lake Tahoe Airport are undertaken, projects that could take up to two years or longer, O'Rourke along with the Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance, the Tahoe-Douglas Visitors Authority, Vail Resorts and several other regional organizations have come together to promote services in and out of Reno International Airport.

"Reno will always bring in a lot of visitors," O'Rourke said. "It's important to take care of the mothership."

Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance board member Mike Bradford said the shift in focus has to do with long-term and short-term goals.

"The flights we have lost in Reno are really important for us to get back," Bradford said. "To get back something we've given up is better than developing something new."

Bradford said the Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance sees a need for local air service and has been trying to bring it back for seven or eight years. But when South Lake Tahoe does get commercial air service, he wants it to be different than in the past, he said.

"We don't want to start and fail again," Bradford said. "We want to start and succeed."

Airport service will come with a rebranding of the Lake Tahoe region, an increase in the destination visitor and, most importantly, a turn in the economy, Bradford said.

"First we need to be seeing positive trends in TOT (transient occupancy tax) and gaming revenues. We're still in decline," Bradford said. "It would be imprudent to continue to push forward for air service if the market is still shrinking."

Infrastructure improvements to the airport that are necessary for commercial service include a revamping of the parking lot and addition of wheelchair ramps, a reorganization of the terminal to make room for airlines, and aligning the tower and technology to Federal Aviation Administration standards.

Costs for the projects have not been estimated, but airport director Sherry Miller said commercial service would bring millions of dollars to the area.

"It will generate millions of dollars to the basin every year and everything would trickle down," she said. "Another huge benefit is it will reduce vehicle trips in and out of the basin."

Miller said 50,000 passengers per year is a reasonable expectation for a facility the size of Lake Tahoe Airport. In 1978, 294,188 passengers took off from the airport. The airport stopped running commercial service in November, 2000.

"We get calls daily from people in the Bay Area and LA, asking what airlines fly here," she said.