Consultants are recommending that Scottsdale Airport allow bigger jets to preserve its status as the Valley's premier business airport.

Wilbur Smith Associates, hired last year to prepare the airport's first-ever Strategic Business Plan, says the airport should raise its restrictions on aircraft weight to allow newer and bigger corporate aircraft. But the restrictions should still be set at a level, they said, to prevent large commercial-size aircraft from landing and taking off in Scottsdale.

The recommendations are part of a business plan designed to help the Scottsdale facility fight off competition from other Valley airports that want a piece of its prestigious, lucrative market of corporate aircraft. The consultants are due to present the final part of the business plan to the Airport Advisory Commission at its meeting Wednesday night.

Wilbur Smith, a transportation consulting firm in Columbia, S.C., previously presented three options for the airport's future:



� Status quo, remaining focused on small to mid-size corporate aircraft.



� Allow the airport to support mid-size to large business jets, including the relatively new craft known as very light jets.



� Add niche commercial service to destinations such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles or Colorado ski resorts, or on-demand, air-taxi service.

The latest version of the plan added the fourth, recommended option, that the airport raise its weight restriction while still serving small to mid-size aircraft.

Scottsdale Airport's runway can accommodate jets with takeoff weights of up to 100,000 pounds, but the city has restricted it to aircraft weighing no more than 75,000 pounds at takeoff.

Raising the limit would bring the airport more revenue from fuel sales and services, while helping it stay competitive, the study said. The airport likely could accommodate the bigger jets without extra expense, it said.

The new option "appears to offer the most efficient and effective opportunities for long-term growth at Scottsdale Airport," the consultants said.

Airport director Scott Gray said he wasn't surprised by the consultants' conclusions. But the city must consider residents' and business owners' questions and comments on the airport's future, he said.

Scottsdale Airport, which opened in 1942 as a training field for Army Air Corps pilots, has been the target of noise complaints since at least the early 1980s. The latest noise study, a federally-funded project that took 15 months to complete, recommended in 2005 that the airport reduce flight paths over neighborhoods and step up disclosures to prospective home buyers.

Gray predicted the issue of aircraft noise will come up this time, too.

"I'm sure citizens will be concerned about larger and noisier aircraft," he said. "But larger doesn't mean noisier anymore."

The aviation businesses that surround the airport have been interested for some time in serving larger aircraft, he said. Not only would it mean more fuel sales and services to them, he said, but the larger craft could mean more tourism and corporate headquarters for Scottsdale.

The latest part of the business plan puts price tags on the various options.

Keeping the status quo would cost little but could mean long-term revenue declines, it said.

The option for large jets could require the airport to relocate taxiways, which the study called "a major undertaking" that could easily cost more than $80 million in property acquisition and construction costs.

The option to add commercial service would be even more expensive. Relocating the taxiways plus upgrading the terminal building to current passenger and baggage screening standards could cost $100 million, the study said.

Area residents and business owners will have multiple chances to comment on the recommendations, Gray said.

The Airport Advisory Commission will discuss them again in June, and the City Council is expected to discuss them in June and again in August, he said. The city also plans a survey on its Web site and other outreach efforts.