Originally planned as a parallel runway, the new 4,300-foot strip at Salina Airport, Kan., is now offset by one magnetic degree from the main Runway 17-35 and has an expected commission date of June 30. Now oriented as Runway 18-36, the new VFR, daytime runway is meant as a reliever for the airport’s extensive training operations conducted by Kansas State University’s Salina College of Technology and Aviation. The college fields a fleet of Cessna 172s, Beech Sundowners, Bonanzas, Barons and a King Air C90. The university also operates a Citation CJ1.
Airport executive director Tim Rogers told AIN that the FAA redesignated the new runway as 18-36 because of runway-incursion data indicating that parallel runways are more dangerous. Originally expected to be completed in May, the project was delayed a month by paperwork, said Rogers. He also told AIN that a separate project to rehabilitate the existing main runway has been put off until next year because funding from the FAA Airport Improvement Program was slow in arriving. Planned work includes resurfacing and updating the runway lighting.
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