I thought that in their charter they were restricted to a 25 mile radius from the Statue of Liberty. This is why the Tappan Zee Bridge is in the ridiculous place it is, because it's just outside their zone and NY State could keep it out of their grasp.

That said, running that airport is way more within their original purpose than building skyscrapers. They should never have been allowed in the commercial office business.

BTW, that original purpose in 1921 was to build a trans-Hudson freight tunnel. Nearly a century later, it's still not even started.

Agreed. No one needs Atlantic City Airport and expanding PATH to Newark Airport and even to Elizabeth Seaport makes much more sense. Who is gonna waste time on the slow NJ transit trains to travel from NYC area to Atlantic City -

make the Port Authority should try to improve links to Philadelphia's airport

The Port Authority is now looking to take over operations at the Atlantic City airport. What a dumb move. The Port Authority should keep its focus where it belongs -- here in the metro area. For instance, a wiser move would be to invest in extension of the PATH from Newark Penn Station to the Newark AirTrain monorail station. That would serve the core purposes of the Port Authority better than taking over a tiny regional airport more than 100 miles away.

Send feedback to the Port Authority here.

Big Dreams for Sleepy Airport
Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2013
By TED MANN and HEATHER HADDON

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it can turn Atlantic City International Airport into a robust regional access point, easing tourists into the area and relieving congestion at the airports in the metropolitan area.

But to bring new flights to the sleepy airport, which has one commercial carrier and an average of 27 flights per day, the authority should be prepared to offer "lucrative incentives," the Port's consultants on the deal warn. Such incentives?which can include payments to airlines when passenger revenue falls below a guaranteed level?would be an additional financial burden for an agency grappling with historically high debt and facing costly upgrades to bridges, tunnels and the airports it already controls.

The Port Authority Board of Commissioners voted last week to begin negotiating an agreement to take over daily operations at Atlantic City beginning July 1. Sometime after that, the Port would consider whether to buy the airport from the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which also operates the Atlantic City Expressway and area parking facilities.

The move stems from laws passed in New York and New Jersey that allowed each state to select one airport to be established as a Port Authority property outside the agency's existing geographic boundaries. Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., became part of the Port organization in 2007.

Some aviation experts are skeptical that a money-losing airport some 125 miles from Manhattan will do much to lessen gridlock around New York. "It won't do diddly to reduce congestion," said Michael Boyd, chairman of Boyd Group International Inc., an aviation-consulting firm in Colorado. "No one's going to fly into Atlantic City and take the Garden State Parkway to the Bronx. It's not going to happen."

"If you were doing a port analysis and deciding where you could put money to make money, I'm not sure Atlantic City would be on that list," said Robert Mann, an aviation consultant based on Long Island. "I'm not sure Stewart would be either, but that's sunk cost at this point."

"I'm not sure you want to go for other albatrosses," he added.

New Jersey officials, however, say the Port takeover represents a chance to breathe new life into the coastal airport?and into the Atlantic City region.

"I think that it will make the airport more active and more accessible and that will help everybody in this region, not just in Atlantic City, but it will help all of the folks in this region from a tourism perspective," Gov. Chris Christie said of the airport takeover plan last week.

A spokesman for the Port Authority referred most questions to the consultants' report, which warned of "challenges," but also said the Port Authority could be well-positioned to oversee the expansion of services at Atlantic City because of its long expertise and significant resources for running airports.

The consultants, hired by the port last fall to evaluate the takeover idea, warned of likely costs. "It will take a concerted marketing effort (and again, here the Port Authority can offer the advantage of a large, established and successful transportation marketing operation), as well as lucrative incentives, to be able to take advantage of opportunities to attract additional airlines.?" said the report from QED Airport and Aviation Consultants, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Such efforts would include promoting the airport's use for casino patrons, the consultant report said, but also spending on big projects at the airport, likely on runways and utilities.

The ultimate goal of making Atlantic City International Airport turn a profit would require an additional 22 flights per day over the next six years. the QED report found. The airport now averages 27 daily flights.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority "has not realized an operating profit from ACY in any year" since the authority took the airport over, the consultants' report said. The authority used revenue from the Atlantic City Expressway to subsidize the airport, including $4.97 million for operating costs and $4.18 million in debt service for 2012. A review of the airport's existing bond documents shows debt service virtually doubled in five years, from $17 million in 2006 to $30.1 million in 2011.

"There's a risk that this potential acquisition could be a drain on the agency's resources," said Richard Barone of the Regional Plan Association, who co-wrote the association's 2011 study of regional airport capacity. "There possibly could be some benefits, such as reducing congestion, but the question is if there could be enough benefit to merit the expense of taking over the airport."

The potential takeover has the support of powerful South Jersey officials, including Democratic Sen. President Steve Sweeney. But officials in Egg Harbor Township?where the majority of the airport is located?expressed caution about the possible ownership transfer, saying no one had discussed the deal with them. The airport creates traffic in the town and arrests there are adjudicated in local courts, but is also a local employer, said James McCullough, mayor of the township of 43,000 residents.

"I would hope that somebody would have the courtesy to at least talk to the host municipality and let us know what their plans are," said Mr. McCullough, a Republican.

Mr. Christie, also a Republican, has staked considerable political capital on turning around Atlantic City after years of declining gambling revenue in the city. As part of a five year plan to revive the casino sector, the state assumed many of the operations in the city's tourism district. The plan is now at its midway mark, but gambling revenues have continued to decline and the $2 billion Revel casino declared bankruptcy in March.

Mr. Christie, however, has remained steadfast in his belief that Atlantic City can rebound.

Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com and Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared March 29, 2013, on page A17 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Big Dreams for Sleepy Airport.