for one 24 hour period from Tuesday August 7, 2007 at 9:30 am to Wednesday August 8, 2007 at 9:30 am. This closure will allow Reith Riley Const. Co., Inc. of South Bend to be able to rehabilitate the intersection of the two commercial service runways at the airport.

According the Airport’s executive Director, John Schalliol, “We are required to do this as part of the pavement rehabilitation project being completed this summer on our main east west runway. This project is scheduled to begin on July 5 and involves the removal and replacement of the entire surface of the main east-west runway. The runway will be closed from 6:00AM on Thursday, July 5, 2007 until completion of the project, on or about August 28, 2007. For the duration of the project all commercial traffic will be utilizing the newly-extended north-south runway, which will be opened on or about June 28th and will be 7100 feet in length, 1100 feet longer than prior to the start of the lengthening project, which got underway in August of 2006.

The August 7th closure of the two runways will mark the first time in years that no commercial service aircraft will have access to the airport. However, due to the amount of work that has to be done in the intersection, and in order to insure the safety of both aircraft and personnel on the ground during the necessary construction effort, the decision was made not to try to do it during the inactive, night-time hours, but to set aside the amount of time necessary to do the job correctly and with maximum safety.

The one-day closure will cause inconveniences for some, but the greater good will be served by following the plan that was set forth to the airlines at a meeting on May 8 of this year to discuss and advise them of the closure in order that accommodations could be made for passengers traveling during this time period.