Gabreski would be go-to airport if East Hampton closes its facility, study says

Gabreski Airport could absorb the bulk of East Hampton Airport’s 28,000 annual flights if town officials opt to close the Wainscott facility, according to a new study.

A report commissioned by East Hampton Town and presented Tuesday during a town board work session looked at how much traffic four other regional facilities — Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach; Montauk Airport; Mattituck Airport; and the Southampton Village Heliport — could handle if the Wainscott airport closed.

Town officials are weighing whether to shutter or modify operations at the town-owned airport, the subject of noise and pollution complaints, after federal mandates expire this month. There is no deadline for a decision.

The town is holding regular meetings and commissioning reports, including one titled Feasibility Study for the Diversion of Airport Operations -- conducted by Burlington, Massachusetts, planning firm HMMH -- as the board considers what path to take.

The report found that Gabreski Airport, 26 miles west of East Hampton Airport, would be a likely destination for air traffic because it offers ample runway space and services like fuel sales and parking.

"If East Hampton were to close or to modify operations, Gabreski would experience most of the effects since it is most-equipped to support the number and types of operations that occur at East Hampton," the report states.

About 7,000 monthly flights, or 225 per day, could be diverted to Suffolk County-owned Gabreski during the summer. That could increase operations to 49 flights per hour, up from the current 34.2, assuming those flights occur between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., according to the study.

Suffolk County officials are reviewing the report and declined to comment.

The privately owned Montauk Airport, which is closed to helicopters at night and requires prior landing permission for jets and helicopters, could potentially handle an average of 15,898 annual flights that would have landed at East Hampton Airport. The study estimated 75 additional daily operations could take place at the airport in August.

The report acknowledges that all numbers reflect a "worst-case scenario" and that many factors — including parking, location and services — constrain how many flights would be redirected to those facilities.

The findings underscore the fact that demand for air travel would not evaporate if East Hampton officials opted to close the airport, said Erin King Sweeney, director of East Hampton Community Alliance, a nonprofit pilot group that advocates to keep the airport open. King Sweeney also said the report downplays how much traffic would be diverted to Montauk.

"If you close East Hampton Airport, planes are going to go somewhere," King Sweeney said, adding that the group is conducting its own diversion study. "The average person in the large Town of East Hampton … is still going to hear noise."

Barry Raebeck, a longtime anti-airport activist and director of the recently formed nonprofit The Coalition to Transform East Hampton Airport, said the town can’t curb demand, but it can set a precedent by closing the airport.

"It’s a statement to the entire world, that you don’t need this, this is not good," Raebeck said. "It [airport traffic] is wealthy people basically just thumbing their nose at everyone else."

Town Councilman Jeff Bragman called the report "a good basis for a deliberative process that will continue."

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.