Provo » The Municipal Council will spend $50,500 on a study to identify a market for regional air service at Provo Municipal Airport, as well as approaching airlines to operate out of Provo.

"The early indication we get is we're a likely prospect for an airline [establishing a route out of Provo]," said Mayor John R. Curtis.

That's the next step in developing the airport, which also serves as home of Utah Valley University's flight program. The council approved the study on Tuesday.

Now, the only major passenger flights out of the airport are 25 to 30 charters each year, including trips by Brigham Young University athletic teams. The charter flights use Million Air's terminal building.

Gleason said the study would be done by Airport Development Group, the company that created the city's Airport Master Plan. The goal: Find out where people in Utah County are flying, and identify an airline willing to provide that service.

Gleason already has lined up meetings with five airlines -- Air Trans, Alaska Air, Horizon Air, Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines -- at a Jumpstart Conference in San Diego June 6-9.

Curtis said getting air-traffic-control radar at the airport also sweetens the deal for airlines. The mountains around Utah County create a blind spot in Salt Lake City International Airport's air-traffic-control system, creating delays for aircraft making instrument takeoffs from Provo.

The radar, which will come on line next year, will allow controllers to "see" into the valley so more planes could take off in a shorter period.

Bringing in regular air service would mean more money for the airport, in the form of revenue from fuel sales and entitlement money. The city now receives $150,000 a year, but if it can get up to 10,000 passengers through the airport annually -- two flights a day, three days a week, Deputy Public Works Director Scott Peppler told the council -- that would increase to $2 million a year.

The city would also benefit from more people coming to the city and staying in hotels.

But it comes at a cost. Wayne Parker, the city's chief administrative officer, said Provo may have to build a new terminal building or expand the one Million Air operates to accommodate growth. Plus, more firefighters may be needed during flight operations.

Gleason said aviation regulations require the city to have at least one firefighter certified in handling aircraft fires present at the airport when a plane carrying more than 50 passengers comes in or takes off. But Parker said the additional revenue from regularly scheduled flights should cover it.

Gleason told the council on April 20 that the only possible complaints residents may have are traffic to and from the airport. But he said Provo would be more of a regional airport like Colorado Springs and wouldn't be as busy as Salt Lake's international airport.

Plus, he said Boeing 757 and 737 airliners already land at Provo, but residents don't hear them since the planes come in and leave the airport over the lake, away from homes.

Councilwoman Laura Cabanilla, who also sits on the Airport Board, said board members are excited about the prospect of commercial air service coming to the airport.

"It is something a lot of board members have been hoping to see for some time," Cabanilla said at the council meeting.