The closures are planned to allow for a construction and rehabilitation project on the 5,900-foot runway. A smaller runway at the airport will remain open.
The closures begin Saturday and are scheduled through early September, according to the DOT. The schedule of full and partial runway closures can be found online at http://1.usa.gov/KotzAirportSchedule.
The department does not expect the closures to reduce the overall number of summer flights to Kotzebue, said DOT spokeswoman Meadow Bailey. But airlines have had to juggle their schedules around the construction work, she said.
"They're not cancelling flights; they're just scheduling them on the open days," she said.
At Bering Air, an airline that serves Kotzebue and surrounding villages, assistant station manager Tom Gebhardt said he expects to see fewer customers on days when the large runway is closed. That's because fewer people will be flying to the hub city in hopes of catching a jet out of Kotzebue, he said.
When the runway is open and jets are leaving the city, local carriers may be overbooked, said Gebhardt, who also anticipates mail delivery delays.
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