St. George » The new St. George airport under construction is taking shape and officials hope the city's future will soar with it when it opens in January.

Assistant Cty Manager Marc Mortensen said St. George has received a $100,000 grant to conduct a business marketing plan to sell the city to airlines and business.

"This spring we will visit several airline corporate offices to show them what we have to sell and why they should locate here," said Mortensen. "These days [the airlines] don't come to you, you have to go to them."

SkyWest is the only carrier serving St. George, with seven daily flights to and from Salt Lake City.

The airline has said it will increase service at the new airport to meet market demands.

One advantage of the new airport is it will allow passenger jets like Boeing 737s to land at St. George. The current airport is too small to handle large jets.

With the new facility, Mortensen hopes the city will see service provided by other regional carriers, providing links with Denver and Phoenix. Some airlines have expressed interest in contracting to use the new airport.

An earlier study by the city concluded that two-thirds of St. George air travelers drive to Las Vegas for connecting flights, while the rest fly to Salt Lake City.

Mortensen said the city is encouraging people to fly to Salt Lake City for connecting flights to increase passenger numbers out of St. George, which is a tough sell because McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas offers some of the lowest ticket prices in the country.

"We want to sell the convenience factor of flying out of St. George," Mortensen said.

The marketing plan also will focus on luring airport-related businesses, like air-cargo companies, to the new facility. Mortensen said there are more than 1,000 developable acres adjacent to the new airport located in a picturesque valley in the city's southeastern section.

First proposed 20 years ago, construction of the airport began in September 2008 with an initial cost estimate $200 million. A sour economy has now dropped the price to $160 million, with the city expected to pay 20 percent of the cost.

Mortensen said federal funding, covering most the cost, is coming from the Federal Aviation Administration, while the city's share will be paid with the sale of the 274 acres where the current airport sits, and from the city's transient room tax. No new taxes for the airport will be levied on city residents.

The airport "is the biggest public works project in the history of Washington County," Mortensen said.

Larry Bulloch, the city's public works director, said besides economic advantages, the city needs a new airport for safety reasons.

With the current airport on top of a bluff, there is nowhere to expand.

"The old airport can no longer meet the safety standards the FAA has for larger aircraft," said Bulloch.

He said the new airport is meeting all its deadlines and coming in ahead of schedule and below budget.