Gwinnett County Airport at Briscoe Field is a municipal airport located about two miles (3 km) northeast of Lawrenceville, Georgia and about 30 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta. It is owned and operated by the Gwinnett County, in northeastern metro Atlanta. New York-based Propeller Investments offered to buy Briscoe Field and upgrade it with a ten-gate terminal to attract more scheduled airline services and build a runway capable of accommodating planes as large as 737s. Atlanta's dominant airline, Delta, lobbied against the proposal due to its reluctance to split operations between Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Briscoe Field, even though two US carriers, Allegiant and Sun Country Airlines, do not yet offer service to Atlanta.

In June 2012, the county's Board of Commissioners canceled the privatization plan, amid local opposition to initiating commercial passenger service from the airport. The Board claims that it would not have been a suitable location for an airport due to the already widespread development around Briscoe, which would also have limited future expansion plans. They also raised the issue of distance, claiming that it was "too far away from metro Atlanta’s main population base", citing industry experts who said "most travelers would continue to utilize Hartsfield-Jackson over Briscoe because it would offer more flights, more destinations, and better ticket pricing". They also characterized Propeller Investments as a startup company without airport operations experience.

See also

  • List of airports in Georgia (U.S. state)

References

  • Gwinnett County Airport , official site