Navy Seeks New Plan for Joint Airport Use

Navy officials have rejected a draft agreement that would have opened up an 11,000-foot military runway for commercial use.

But plans to offer the landing strip to private cargo or passenger jets are not dead. Officials of the Point Mugu Regional Airport Authority plan to submit a new draft agreement later this year.

“The Navy has rejected the first draft agreement so it can be reworked again,” Navy spokeswoman Phillis Thrower said. “We are not killing the idea of the joint use proposal here at Point Mugu, but as it stands now it is unacceptable.”

Military officials are concerned about the authority’s plan to use a portion of Navy property to open the runway to commercial use, Thrower said.

The regional airport authority is a panel of elected officials from several cities formed two years ago to study ways to bring commercial jets to Point Mugu.

Elected officials say that allowing private cargo and passenger jets at the airstrip would attract new businesses to Ventura County as well as promote tourism. Thrower said she expects a counterproposal from the authority within a few months. “The ball is in their court,” she said.