As airports grapple with electrification, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and growing energy demands, many are asking the same question: where do we start? Lessons from six southwest Ohio airports offer a practical path forward.
Airport electrification is often associated with large commercial hubs, but many of the most important lessons are emerging at general aviation (GA) airports. For smaller facilities, preparation is less about large, transformative projects and more about developing a practical roadmap that aligns infrastructure investments with funding opportunities, community needs and evolving technologies.
The challenges facing six airports in southwest Ohio mirror those confronting thousands of GA airports across the U.S.: How can airport leaders prepare for electric aircraft and new use cases enabled through AAM, while working within limited utility capacity, airport budgets and staff resources?
Those questions were at the heart of a recent study conducted for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), which developed electrification roadmaps for six southwest Ohio airports while identifying broader lessons that general aviation facilities across the country can apply to their own planning efforts.
“This is how GA airports across the US are going to get ready for the future of aviation,” said Ethan Fulton, vice president of transport and infrastructure, WSP in the U.S. “It’s the next evolution.
Build the Foundation First
For many airport leaders, the question is not whether electrification is coming, but where to begin. The answer, in most cases, has less to do with a specific aircraft type and more to do with the future energy demand and infrastructure that will support a range of future technologies.
Electrification is also likely to be just one part of a broader evolution in airport energy systems. Depending on local priorities and operating needs, airports may eventually need to consider sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen, battery storage and other emerging energy solutions alongside electrification.
While electric aircraft, AAM and other emerging technologies continue to evolve, airports do not need to wait for certainty before acting. Many of the foundational investments required to support future aviation technologies are already well understood. Expanding public EV charging, upgrading electrical service and developing site civil infrastructure can help airports reduce emissions and improve day-to-day operations while creating the capacity needed for future growth.
In southwest Ohio, these foundational improvements served as the starting point for electrification planning across all six participating airports. Typically costing hundreds of thousands of dollars —and rarely reaching the million-dollar mark at a GA airport — these investments provide immediate benefits while establishing the groundwork for future electrification efforts. Assessing an airport’s current electrical capacity and infrastructure is often the first step.
This enables near-term investments such as EV charging and positions facilities for more extensive airside electrification in the years ahead.
Importantly, this approach allows airports to make progress without having to predict exactly when particular technologies will arrive or which aircraft will ultimately gain widespread adoption.
By focusing first on core infrastructure, airport leaders can maintain flexibility and adapt as technologies, operational needs and funding opportunities evolve.
For airport leaders, the lesson is clear: start with infrastructure that delivers value today while creating capacity for the technologies of tomorrow.
There Is No One-Size-Fits All Approach
While the foundation may be similar, the path forward will look different at every airport. Electrification planning should reflect each facility’s operations, community needs, physical constraints and long-term objectives. Some GA airports must also plan around specific environmental risks such as flooding or wildfire impacts.
Early electrification studies help airports understand where they want to go before determining exactly Combined with thorough environmental assessments, a phased planning approach such as the one developed in the OKI study enables airports to refine their investments as budgets, technologies and market needs evolve.
For some airports, the most immediate opportunities may involve electric ground support equipment (eGSE) or charging infrastructure for flight training operations. Others may focus on future passenger services, regional air mobility applications or other emerging aviation technologies.
Cincinnati Municipal Airport-Lunken Field (LKU) provides one example, as the primary reliever airport for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International. Located just three miles east of downtown Cincinnati, the facility supports a diverse mix of activities, including charter services, recreational flying, medical response operations and corporate aviation. As a result, Lunken Field’s phased roadmap builds from near-term charging infrastructure to future support for electric conventional take off and landing and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, allowing the airport to adapt as electrified aviation develops.
For OKI Strategic Initiatives Manager Robyn Bancroft, the greatest value of a roadmap like this lies in the confidence it provides. Rather than reacting to new technologies or funding opportunities as they emerge, airports can make decisions with a clear direction already in place. Having a clear plan also helps airports identify potential funding opportunities in advance, allowing them to align future projects with local, state and federal funding opportunities as they become available.
“I’m anticipating a private client coming to us in the next few years and saying, ‘We want to do this or that at your airport,’” Bancroft explained. “We’ll already have a plan to confidently move forward.”
Strength in Numbers
Electrification planning can be challenging for smaller airports, particularly when data, funding and internal resources are limited. One of the most valuable lessons from southwest Ohio was the benefit of collaboration.
By coming together under a single regional initiative, six airports were able to share data and planning resources while developing roadmaps that reflected their individual needs. A collaborative planning effort can help airports build a stronger case for future funding by demonstrating regional coordination, clearly defined needs and a practical path to implementation.
For other airports exploring electrification, that may be one of the most important takeaways: By planning together, smaller airports can reduce overall planning costs, and build the expertise, strategy and funding readiness needed to move from ambition to action.
From Planning to Preparation
While the pace of electrification and AAM adoption remains uncertain, the need for preparation is not. Airports do not need to know exactly when new technologies will arrive to begin planning for them. The most successful strategies are likely to be those that focus on building a strong foundation, making phased investments and maintaining the flexibility to adapt as needs evolve.
The experience in southwest Ohio demonstrates that preparing for an electrified future does not require a major upfront investment or a fully defined vision of tomorrow’s aviation landscape. It begins with understanding current infrastructure, identifying future needs and developing a roadmap that can evolve alongside emerging technologies.
For GA airports, the first step is not preparing for a specific aircraft. It is creating a plan that allows them to respond with confidence when new opportunities, partnerships and funding become available.