Flight International online news 15:00GMT: More than four years after 9/11, Washington DC's Reagan National has reopened to general aviation, with the first flight into the downtown airport today.
Ed Bolen, president of the National Business Aviation Association, has welcomed the move, but says the closure of the airport to GA, because of the threat of a terrorist attack to the capital's government buildings, has taken a "heavy economic toll" on the region, with losses to local business and of tax revenue estimated at more than $200 million.
"We have always believed that effective security measures can coexist with normal economic activity and freedom of mobility at the airport, and today's flight marks a good step in that direction," he says.
However, he warns that the plan for GA at the airport "remains prohibitive and even unworkable for many businesses".
For more on the effects of the re-opening of the airport to GA, see Flight International 25 October-1 November.
Ed Bolen, president of the National Business Aviation Association, has welcomed the move, but says the closure of the airport to GA, because of the threat of a terrorist attack to the capital's government buildings, has taken a "heavy economic toll" on the region, with losses to local business and of tax revenue estimated at more than $200 million.
"We have always believed that effective security measures can coexist with normal economic activity and freedom of mobility at the airport, and today's flight marks a good step in that direction," he says.
However, he warns that the plan for GA at the airport "remains prohibitive and even unworkable for many businesses".
For more on the effects of the re-opening of the airport to GA, see Flight International 25 October-1 November.
Source: Flight International
