Aviation Program

Operations Division, Agency of Transportation

When Charles Lindbergh landed at Springfield’s Hartness Airport in 1927, Vermont’s airports were owned and operated by individual towns. The Aeronautics Board was established in 1941 to further the public’s interest in aeronautics. By the 1960s, airports were recognized as critical state infrastructure, and the State of Vermont began acquiring and managing airports. Vermont’s Airport System comprises 17 public-use airports. Of these, the Agency of Transportation owns 10, 5 are privately owned, and 2 are owned by municipalities. Burlington and Rutland offer commercial passenger service in and out of the state, and three airports – Berlin, Burlington, and Rutland – handle all of Vermont’s air freight.

In 2007, Vermont’s public use airports:
• had 174,076 takeoffs and landings (not including Burlington International)
• handled 11,723 tons of air freight (59 percent in,
41 percent out)
• totaled 10 miles of runway, 3 miles of taxiway,
11 acres of apron, 2,310 acres of land, 9 terminal buildings, 20 hangars, and 200 hangar leases*.
• generated $632,671 in revenue for the Transportation Fund (62 percent in Aviation Jet Fuel Tax and 38 percent from leases)

Average annual investment in state-owned airport infrastructure 2005-07: $5,574,213
(70 percent federal, 30 percent state, less than 1 percent local)

Employees: 7 full time

2008 Budgeted Revenues: $7,454,000
(68 percent federal funds, 29 percent Transportation Fund, 3 percent local funds).
Of the federal funds, $4,023,000 goes directly to the Burlington International Airport.

2008 Budgeted Expenditures: $7,454,000
(84 percent capital expenditures, 14 percent administration, 2 percent grants)

* Inventories apply to the 10 state-owned airports only.

Source: Aviation Program, Operations Division,
Agency of Transportation and Burlington International Airport.

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