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Airport authority reports record enplanements, major cargo expansion and brownfield remediation project
Summary
The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority told York County commissioners on June 3 that 2025 was a record year for enplanements, cargo activity is strong, 46 infrastructure projects totaling about $119 million are underway across four airports, and a Crawford Station brownfield remediation effort is underway with a pending EPA grant application.
Tim Edwards, executive director of the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority, updated the York County Board of Commissioners on airport operations, infrastructure projects and redevelopment priorities during the June 3 meeting.
Edwards said the authority reported 814,718 enplanements in 2025, a record year that exceeded the previous 2019 high; cargo activity totaled roughly 55,700 tons and the authority processes nearly 115 million pounds of freight annually through the FedEx and UPS networks. He said the authority has 46 ongoing infrastructure projects across four airports with an aggregate value of about $119 million and highlighted a $64 million multi-phase air cargo reconfiguration and expansion that increased cargo apron capacity by about 30%.
Edwards described the Crawford Station adaptive reuse and remediation project, a former coal-fired power plant site the authority acquired to create roughly 65 acres for future aeronautical development. He said the authority has applied for a $3.9 million EPA brownfield cleanup grant to support remediation and redevelopment for aviation maintenance, hangars and workforce development.
On airline service, Edwards said four carriers now serve Harrisburg International (American, Delta, United and Allegiant) to 18 destinations after Frontier exited the market; seven destinations are international gateway hubs allowing one-stop global connections via major transfer airports. He reported about 1,458,000 total passengers systemwide in 2025 (a 12% increase over 2024) and said Lancaster, Dauphin and York counties accounted for 70% of the 2025 passenger growth.
A commissioner asked whether the newly renovated Middletown train station generates noticeable transfers to the airport. Edwards said he had no data demonstrating significant multimodal transfers and that such interactions are infrequent.
Edwards also recapped the recent air show featuring the Blue Angels, noting weather forced cancellation of the Saturday performance but the event otherwise succeeded; he said the authority plans to host the Air Force Thunderbirds in July 2027 and has applied to the Department of Defense for a military demonstration team in 2028.
The presentation included board members and staff from the authority present at the meeting. The commissioners asked a follow-up question about multimodal connectivity; no formal county action was required on the presentation.
