Growth at and around airport good sign for city

Chances are, you've never heard the term "aerotropolis." I hadn't either until recently, while reading this month's issue of Site Selection magazine.

In the cover story, an aerotropolis is defined as an airport "area" that resembles a city unto itself, with surrounding hotels, shops, distribution centers, light industrial parks and even office parks. While the area surrounding Huntsville International Airport may not qualify as an aerotropolis today, it certainly has some of the characteristics: the Jetplex Industrial Park, the Sheraton Four Points hotel, the International Intermodal Center and nearby office parks.

Rick Tucker, executive director of the Port of Huntsville, which includes the Jetplex, hotel and intermodal center, said our facility could grow up to be an aerotropolis.

"I think certainly the airport plays a critical role in any community, in a community's economic development efforts, and certainly that's the case in Huntsville. ... Cities grew up to begin with in large part due to access to transportation."

Indeed, as business goes global and industry turns to just-in-time delivery, airports are becoming more vital.

"Airports will be as important to business location and urban development in the 21st century as automobiles and trucks were in the 20th century, railroads were in the 19th century and seaports were in the 18th century," Dr. John D. Kasarda, director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Site Selection.

Tucker said that's why port leaders are working to "put together a transportation system here that will support the economic activity here and position the city for growth and development opportunities in the future."

Huntsville International ranks around No. 110 in size out of 400 airports in the United States, Tucker said. The intermodal center is No. 60 in size - impressive for a city the size of Huntsville, he said.

"We're proportionately a bigger cargo airport than we are a passenger airport," he said. "International air cargo has been a major focus of ours and will continue to be.

"I think you'll see in the future more and more companies that rely on that kind of transportation. Huntsville will be on their radar screen more and more as they look for growth opportunities."

Having a new low-cost carrier in Independence Air, which launched flights this month, will also help the airport grow, he said.

"The managers and executives who are doing business need to travel, and they don't fly in cargo planes," Tucker said. "In the last year, we've added three or four key destinations for our community with the low-fare service that will get people off the road. As that traffic builds, we'll be able to get more services."

Business Editor Gina Hannah can be reached by phone at 532-4531, or e-mail at ginah@htimes.com.