A new study by the Indiana University Public Policy Institute shows that Indianapolis International Airport is one of the state’s key business drivers, providing a $5.4 billion annual economic impact on the region.
Excerpted from Airport World:
“It’s pretty common for most people to think of the airport singularly as a place to help facilitate travel,” Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA), tells Airport World magazine. “But it’s an economic engine that creates jobs, facilitates growth across local business sectors and spends significant money in the local market.”
The study found that the airport generates even more jobs off-site as it does on, with 10,100 people working at the airport and another 12,500 employed in various support roles servicing the airport. Wages and benefits alone for those employees equates to nearly $2 billion. Additional business revenues, expenses and services add another $3 billion. For every $1 generated at the airport, an additional $1 is generated in Marion County.
“The impact picture is even larger than the statistics reveal,” Barbara Glass, president of the IAA board, tells Airport World. “Indy airport operations also play a role in attracting more economic opportunity to the state and the city through smart land use, smart air service strategy and global connectivity.”
In 2008, Indianapolis International Airport opened the Colonel Harvey Weir Cook Terminal. Master planned and designed by HOK, the LEED-certified terminal was one of the first and largest of its kind and helped established IIA as the world’s first LEED-certified airport campus.
Indianapolis International Airport is routinely ranked by passengers and industry publications as one of the best airports in the United States. The University Public Policy Institute study also found that the airport continues to play a larger role in the region’s economy. Since 2012, the airport’s annual economic impact had grown by $830 million, or 18 percent.