East Hampton Airport To Go Private, Ban Chartered Flights Over Noise Concerns

Private jet and helicopter charters into the East Hampton Airport could be a thing of the past as the town’s board is expected to take the public airport under private control by early March, according to Bloomberg. 

The move will effectively ban millionaires who rent aircraft and only allow billionaires who own their jets to fly into the airport. 

On Tuesday, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc released a statement that said the town’s board would deactivate the airport and reopen it as a limited facility where planes and helicopters can only land with permission. He said the shift would allow the town to have more oversight on air traffic which has surged in recent years, not just because of the pandemic (with folks moving out of NYC to The Hamptons) but also the rise of ride-share apps that make it easier to catch a helicopter or private plane flight. 

The logic behind the privatization is limiting air travel to and from the airport because it has created constant noise and environmental pollution and disturbs some surrounding communities. 

However, not everyone in the ultra-rich beach town, a playground for Wall Street elites, is enthused by the decision to take the airport private. About 80% of the residents in the Village of East Hampton oppose the move and say it would redirect air traffic to other towns and could hurt their local economy. 

The airport is expected to close at the end of February and reopen under private control in early March. 

Nothing is more laughable than the haves and the have-mores (or millionaires versus billionaires) of The Hamptons fighting over who gets to fly into the local airport.