Buckeye is asking residents to weigh in Wednesday evening on a long-range concept that could reshape Buckeye Municipal Airport, including an adopted plan to lengthen its existing runway and a separate study of where a second runway could fit.
The public workshop is scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at The Landing, 945 N. 215th Ave., Suite 137. The city says the concept is intended to guide runway expansion and airport development beyond the conventional 20-year planning horizon.
No runway construction, airline service or funding package is being approved at the workshop. The meeting is a public-input step before Buckeye selects a recommended long-range concept and completes a final report.
The adopted plan calls for a 7,300-foot runway
Buckeye Municipal Airport currently has one 5,500-by-75-foot runway, designated Runway 17/35. A city presentation from a July 7 City Council workshop says the Airport Master Plan evaluated five alternatives and recommends phased extensions of Runway 17/35 to 7,300 feet long and 100 feet wide. The council adopted that master plan in April 2026.
The city’s economic-development strategy places that runway work in a 2029-32 phase, after a 2026-28 period focused on water, sewer, power, broadband and road access. Planning materials associate a 7,300-foot runway with corporate aviation, regional airline service, aircraft maintenance, defense support and aviation manufacturing.
Those uses are planning scenarios, not announced tenants or routes. The packet does not identify an airline commitment, construction contract, funding source or opening date for a longer runway.
A second-runway concept faces airspace limits
The long-range work looks beyond the adopted master plan and tests a much larger ultimate airport footprint. The city says two runways may eventually be needed for demand and capacity, with space preserved for general aviation, corporate aircraft, air carriers, cargo and military activity.
Airspace is a major constraint. The city’s analysis examines interactions with Luke Air Force Base and Phoenix Goodyear Airport. It found a proposed Runway 3/21 alignment infeasible because of effects involving Luke, identified the existing 17/35 alignment as the strongest option, and added a possible 10/28 alignment for further study.
The long-range analysis also tests runways of roughly 10,500 feet to accommodate large cargo and military aircraft. That is an ultimate planning scenario. A separate strategy in the same packet recommends 7,300 feet as Buckeye’s primary economic-development target, preserves an 8,000-foot option for 2032-45 if tied to an anchor user or government funding, and says the cost-benefit case does not support planning a 10,000-foot runway within that horizon.
Airport planning now has two connected tracks
The runway concept is related to, but distinct from, Buckeye’s Airport Specific Area Plan. The airport master plan and long-range concept focus on aviation facilities. The specific-area plan covers land around the airport, including future land use, roads, utilities and development compatibility within a study area extending about five miles from the runway.
Residents attending Wednesday’s workshop can review the runway concepts before the city moves toward a recommendation. The questions still ahead include which second-runway alignment survives technical review, how much land must be protected, when utility capacity can support airport growth and what funding would be required for any construction.
West Valley Post is following both planning efforts in the Buckeye Development Tracker.
Image: Entrance to Buckeye Municipal Airport, photographed in 2017 by Marine 69-71. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Image resized for web use. Source.
Comments
Join the conversation. Keep comments relevant, civil and focused on the story.