.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Des Moines International Airport was awarded a grant of $855,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to aid in the airport’s long-term plans for a third runway, announced Sen. Tom Harkin, a senior member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee.

The airport originally had three runways, but in 2001 it closed its shortest one, a 3,200-foot general aviation runway, when it made plans to extend Runway 5/23 – which runs northeast to southwest – from 6,500 feet to 9,000 feet. The extension intersected the smaller runway toward its end, which meant the smaller runway had to be removed, said Roy Criss, Des Moines International’s air service and public relations manager.

Criss said this grant money is a portion of a commitment made by the FAA about seven years ago to help pay for the replacement of the lost runway. The agency will pay 95 percent of the entire estimated $40 million cost of the new 6,500-foot parallel runway.

The project is being worked on over a long period of time as money flows to the airport in bits and pieces. First the airport had to purchase 33 parcels of land to the northwest of the airport, Criss said.

That process is essentially complete. The current dose of funding will be used to relocate the Great Western walking and biking trail and a gas line.

The airport plans to let the bid design in 2012, and doesn’t anticipate dirt being moved until 2015, with 2016 being the earliest possible date for the opening of the new runway, Criss said.

The new runway will improve safety by helping separate smaller, slower aircraft from the faster cargo and commercial planes and the Iowa Air National Guard’s F-16s.

Along with helping improve safety, the new runway also will help position the airport for future growth.

Because it will have two parallel runways, the airport will be able to handle simultaneous landings and takeoffs, which will increase its capacity, a key selling point for the airport in its attempts to lure airlines to Des Moines.

“In this business, whether it is cargo or air passengers, the ability to turn a plane quickly, that’s what they (airlines) make their decisions on, that’s how airlines are efficient and that’s how they make their money,” Criss said. “When they go into an airport that is clogged up, and they have to sit in line and wait 30 minutes, they are burning fuel.”

AirTran Airways in March began offering service from Des Moines to Orlando, Fla., and Branson AirExpress will begin offering flights between Des Moines and Branson, Mo., on May 17. Criss said both those airlines’ decisions to come to Des Moines were not based upon the prospect of the new runway. Still, Criss said this is a positioning factor for the future, when Des Moines International is looking at handling bigger planes and trying to woo some international flights and more service.