Malad City Airport in Idaho recently completed a $1.6 million runway improvement project. The Leading Idaho funding initiative completely paid for the project which began construction last September.
“A huge thank you to Gov. (Brad) Little for his Leading Idaho Grant and for the State of Idaho Aeronautics for trusting in Oneida County – Malad Airport with the grant funds to rebuild our runway,” Malad City Airport Office Manager Roxanne Albretsen said. “We are beyond grateful and will maintain and keep it in beautiful condition for years to come!”
Malad relies on the airport to transport critical patients to the nearest trauma center. In addition, firefighters use the airport as a base for fighting forest fires, agricultural spray planes use the airport as their base of operations, and visitors fly in for business purposes or recreation.
In 2021, there were more than 2,200 landings at the airport.
Idaho’s Division of Aeronautics and local airport officials manage the project. Aero, part of the Idaho Transportation Department, manages the airfield.
The airport was at the top of the list for funding. It ranked at the top because it had a most recent Pavement Condition Index score of 37, which means very poor. The index is used to determine the level of pavement distress.