Airport Feasibility Study

Feb. 25 Board of Commissioners Meeting Update 

At the Feb. 25 Board of Commissioners meeting, the consultant team will present findings of the preliminary market feasibility study. For more details about the meeting, including how to attend in person or view online, visit our Commission page. 

What comes next

The Commission is expected to decide at a future Commission meeting whether to direct Port staff to pursue Phase 2 of the study. Phase 2 of the study would take about 18 months and would examine a number of questions in greater detail, including:

• Required infrastructure improvements and their potential costs
• Traffic impacts
• Environmental impacts of introducing new air service
• Additional research into the potential market opportunities for Bremerton National Airport

Conducting a second phase of study does not mean the Port will begin any new services at Bremerton National Airport. Significant work would remain between the conclusion of Phase 2 and the start of any new service. That work would involve securing funding sources, state and federal environmental review, permitting, and the design and construction of any required infrastructure. There is also no guarantee that any air service carriers will agree to operate at Bremerton National Airport. 

-----

Results of fall 2024 community survey

The Port distributed a digital survey in October and November 2024, asking our community to weigh the potential benefits and potential impacts of commercial or cargo service at the airport. We received over 2,700 responses – thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our survey! 

Below is a snapshot of the results:

What we asked: How much does the community value different potential benefits of commercial passenger service? (Rank potential benefits on a 1-5 scale, where 5 is the benefit they value the most.)

What we heard: The highest-rated potential benefits were:

1. Ease of picking up family and friends from a closer airport than Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (average 4.31 out of 5.0).
2. Ability to buy a ticket to fly to destinations on the West Coast (average 4.10 out of 5.0).
3. Capacity improvements to Highway 3 (average 3.87 out of 5.0).

The lowest-ranked potential benefits were:

1. Ability to buy a ticket to fly to destinations within Washington state (average 3.19 out of 5.0)
2. Increase in local tourism from people arriving via plane (average 3.03 out of 5.0).

What we asked: How much does the community value different potential benefits of cargo service? (Rank potential benefits on a 1-5 scale, where 5 is the benefit they value the most.)

What we heard: The highest-rated potential benefits were:

1. Capacity improvements to Highway 3 (average 3.90 out of 5.0).
2. New jobs created at Bremerton National Airport (average 3.69 out of 5.0).

What we asked: How much is the community concerned about potential impacts of commercial passenger or cargo service? (Rank potential impacts on a 1-5 scale, where 5 is the impact they are most concerned about.)

What we heard: The highest-rated potential impacts were:

1. Increase in passenger vehicle traffic on Highway 3 (average 3.46 out of 5.0)
2. Cost to local taxpayers from infrastructure improvements (average 3.43 out of 5.0).
3. Increase in truck traffic on Highway 3 (average 3.41 out of 5.0).

The lowest-ranked potential impacts were:

1. Increase in local tourism from people arriving via plane (average 2.53 out of 5.0).
2. Noise from up to 5 additional daily flights at Bremerton National Airport (average 2.31 out of 5.0).

What we asked: We asked our community if they had other concerns about introducing limited commercial passenger or cargo service, beyond what we included in other questions. 

What we heard: Most responses to this question were elaborations on potential impacts included earlier in the study. Some additional themes we heard included:

• New airport service would harm the small town/rural/quiet quality of life that people appreciate about the region.
• New commercial service would increase costs for existing airport users or push out space for small aircraft.
• The region does not have a big enough population to support the costs of new airport services or the services themselves, and the price for passenger flights would be too high for all but the wealthy.

What we asked: We asked our community what they would like us to study in Phase 2 of the analysis, should the Board of Commissioners approve it. 

What we heard: The biggest topics that we heard our community would like more information about included:

• Funding and taxes
• Transportation and infrastructure improvements
• Flight paths
• Carriers, destinations, and ticket prices
• Noise and environmental impacts, including pollution and mitigation
• Project timeline
• Economic benefits and where they would flow

Please also visit our online open house for more information, our working timeline, and FAQs: Feasibility Study Online Open House.

You can also reach out about this project by emailing us at airportstudy@portofbremerton.org.