Navy says no to Norfolk Airport's desire for second runway

For Norfolk International Airport to keep growing, officials and local leaders have said it needs another runway. Its Navy neighbors, though, say no way.

On Monday, Navy Rear Admiral Charles W. Rock, commander of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, provided the first formal indication that the Navy opposed building a second runway to run parallel to the airport’s main runway.

In a letter to airport commissioner Blythe Ann Scott, Rock wrote that a second runway would result in “conflicts with crucial military aircraft training support to Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC), training that cannot be replicated at any other installation in Hampton Roads.” In particular, Rock pointed to helicopter training and ordnance storage at the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.

The airport is updating its master plan, which forecasts activity 20 years out, a document that is integral to obtaining Federal Aviation Administration funding for improvements. So far, forecasts indicate an additional 1 million passengers by 2038, or 2.8 million annually.

The FAA told airport officials in 2016 that it doesn’t think a new runway is necessary, saying that a proposal didn’t meet “purpose and need.” The airport has continued to push for the option, however, saying it will be crucial when it comes time to fix its existing runway.

The airport has one primary runway and a crosswind runway that consultants have described as only “marginally useful.” Commercial airlines and cargo don’t use it because it’s too short, and it’s primarily used for general aviation flights.