Stewart Airport Newburgh, New York

Don't get me wrong I think MassPort taking over ORH will be great for Worcester, but let me tell you a little story about the airport above:

1)   In April, 1998, New York State selected the U.K. firm National Express to lease Stewart Airport for 99 years. Stewart thus became the first U.S. airport to be fully privatized and the first participant in the FAA’s airport privatization pilot program to complete the process.


National Express Group PLC offered $35 million in cash up-front, plus a percentage of airport revenues. Its bid was judged superior to those of the other four finalist teams: American Port Services (Baltimore), D.M. Airport Developers (Morristown, N.J.), Airport Group International (Glendale, Calif.), and LCOR / Schiphol Airport (New York City).

2)  In 2007, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey  purchased the lease of Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., about 70 miles north of Manhattan from National Express for  $78.5 million lease. The agency could take over operations at the airport by this fall. . The law allows the Port Authority to expand outside of its current jurisdiction area, a 25-mile radius from the Statue of Liberty


As the details of the sale to MassPort evolve keep these numbers in mind.   Not saying Worcester is Stewart but 78.5 million for the remaining terms of the lease, not even ownership/