NEW YORK: A long-sought objective at Griffiss International Airport has been accomplished — a full-time, on-site U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent is now working at Griffiss, at the county’s expense.
The airfield can now accept international arrivals direct. If an international plane flies into the United States, it must stop at an airport with a customs facility before going anywhere else.
Until last month, if the final destination of an international flight was Griffiss, it had to stop at another airport first for the necessary customs clearance. As an alternative, advance arrangements could be made to have customs personnel from another airport, like Syracuse’s Hancock, meet the plane when it landed at Griffiss.
The agent began working in the newly constructed customs facility May 18 and by Friday had cleared three international flights, including two Boeing 747s headed for one of the aircraft maintenance centers at Griffiss. When an aircraft is expected outside of normal business hours, customs officials will work with the airport to make sure it is covered.
A permanent customs presence is seen as a value-added service for the aircraft maintenance and overhaul facilities whose customers sometimes send planes to Griffiss from foreign starting points.
Additionally, it is hoped that having a customs facility will help attract more international flights, boosting fuel sales. More than a million gallons were sold last year. The county is paid 8 cents for every gallon of aircraft fuel sold by ground services provider Million Air.
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Legislators’ Republican caucus, Majority Leader George E. Joseph, R-10, Westmoreland, said Million Air has started publicizing to the aviation community the availability of an on-site customs agent.
The county paid to construct the multimillion-dollar facility to specifications required by Customs and Border Protection.
