Naples Airport Authority board members last month authorized a study to learn how much it might cost to build a new airport, and options for paying for it.

Some commissioners hope the true cost of a new airport will help elected officials and the public decide whether it’s wise — or even possible — to build a $2 billion airport that could take 20 years to construct.

“I think this is very helpful; it will create facts and closure around this issue,” Commissioner Terrence Cavanaugh told the other commissioners. “This is the capstone to allow us to make a decision. There is a lack of understanding here about the cost.”

Commissioner Robert Burns agreed.

“[Let’s] go ahead with this study, because I want to know whether it is possible,” Burns said. “I want to know whether it’s feasible or not feasible. We need to educate the public and the City Council, and this is one of the ways to do it.”

In February, NAA commissioners directed Rozansky to ask consultants Environmental Science Associates for a price on a detailed cost/funding analysis to help commissioners determine whether a new airport in Collier County is fiscally viable.

During NAA’s March 20 meeting, after Rozansky told the board that ESA priced its feasibility study at $158,775 and could take until mid- to late-summer to complete the work, the board asked him for a less-inclusive financial study, which NAA Chair Rita Cuddihy said could be accomplished in-house under the direction of Ken Warriner, the airport’s senior director of finance and administration. That study would be ready for the board much sooner than the ESA study, she said.

“We likely can prepare a high-level analysis ourselves, engage to a much lesser degree these consultants without asking them for written reports and have it back to you no later than the June [19] NAA meeting.”

The board then directed Rozansky to conduct the higher-level study involving in-house staff.

The NAA still intends to consult with a bond consultant “to obtain high-level expertise on that aspect of potential funding scenarios,” Rozansky said.

The Naples city government holds the lease on the land upon which the airport sits. That lease ends in 2068 — more than four decades in the future. A lot can happen in those 43 years, but at this point, there is not a lot of support in some quarters for moving the airport. For instance, Collier County’s Board of Commissioners made it clear in January that they are opposed to relocating it in Collier County. They passed a resolution against building a new airport in unincorporated Ave Maria and rejected NAA’s invitation to participate in any decisions related to moving the airport.

“However, the Naples City Council voted in favor of the NAA continuing the study,” Rozansky said. “This study is not intended to result in a final recommendation, only to inform elected officials, other stakeholders and interested parties.”

Rozansky, who has had informal discussions with a bond manager and other financial consultants, told the board that Panama City’s airport — which cost more than $318 million to build — was paid for with $120 million in state grants and loans; $72 million in Federal Aviation Authority grants, $60 million from the sale of the former airport land (Northwest Beaches International Airport was built on fresh land north of the city); $38 million in residual fees from development; and $55 million from a private bank loan backed by future airport revenues.

A bond consultant who works primarily with municipalities told Rozansky that Naples Airport could potentially bond between $75 million and $100 million, but NAA spokesperson Robin King said the NAA — a special purpose government agency — might have difficulty obtaining a credit rating.

“We don’t have a steady revenue stream like a commercial airport does with airline services, and we don’t have taxing authority, so it’s uncertain what a credit rating company would determine,” she said.

When weighing the cost of a new airport, consultants also estimate the revenue that the airport can generate to repay loans and meet other financial obligations. Since its opening, for instance, Panama City’s airport has attracted research and development dollars. That’s important, because the NAA’s study could include potential aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue streams associated with both a new general aviation-only airport and a new commercial services airport.

In 2024, Northwest Beaches International signed an agreement with Florida State University’s innovation program aimed at advancing FSU’s aerospace engineering, testing and manufacturing in the region. In April 2024 Triumph Gulf Coast — using money from grants related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill — gave the final sign-off on $98.4 million in grant funding that will support the project. FSU said it will invest another $65 million over the next 10 years, and has committed to securing more grant money for the project.

NAA commissioners are aware of complaints from the public that NAA is spending too much time studying a move that may never happen. Though Burns urged the commissioners to conduct a full financial feasibility analysis and not “a back-of-the envelope” study, Commissioner Kerry Dustin suggested the board concentrate on more immediate issues.

“I think it’s a little bizarre to go forward with an analysis of building an airport in the county when the County Commissioners said. ‘5-0, no airport,’” Dustin said.

This story was published in The Naples Press on April 11.