By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Airport on tap for Richmond Hill?
0402 MidCoastal airport fly in
Richmond Hill may someday have an airport, possibly the size of other comparable airports, like Hinesville's Midcoast Regional. File photo. - photo by Photo provided.

Richmond Hill officials are looking into whether the fast-growing city needs an airport, and one councilman thinks it’s an idea whose time has come.

“We became aware of some over crowding at the Savannah Airport and the consistent increase of general aviation,” Councilman Robbie Ward said. “We also knew that every city of any considerable size already has an airport. In addition, with the considerable growth of our population and the growth of our industrial area, we thought an airport was the next logical step. The decision to begin with a feasibility study was made by all the council members. We know this is a long and complicated process and we need to include the experts in our discussions.”

To that end, the city has hired Holt Consulting out of Columbia, S.C. a firm recommended by the engineering firm of Thomas and Hutton, which handles a lot of business for Bryan County.

“We hope to have the study completed within four to six months,” Ward continued.

Richmond Hill officials recently sent out letters asking the county for support and also getting input from state and federal legislators, all of whom have shown they’re supportive of seeing whether their’s a need for the airport, which Ward said would be a Level II airport.

As for where it might go, that’s still up in the air.

“At this time all of that would be decided through the feasibility study,” Ward said. “However, the one thing we do know is that we would want a Level II airport. Simply put, we would want a 5,000 foot runway that would handle most general aviation and smaller jets.”

Bryan County Chairman Carter Infinger said the county looks forward to seeing the result of the study.

Bryan County was the fastest growing county in Georgia according to the 2020 U.S. Census, with much of the growth occurring in and around Richmond Hill and South Bryan. The county grew from 30,233 in 2010 to an estimated 46,938 in July 2021.

More recent estimates have the county at more than 49,000 residents in 2023.

Sign up for our E-Newsletters