Syracuse airport issues statement on Biden flight restrictions on Thursday

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) in association with President Joe Biden’s visit to Onondaga Community College on Thursday.

This TFR is in effect from 1:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. local time and extends in a 12 nautical-mile radius around Syracuse Hancock International Airport, the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority (SRAA) said in a Wednesday statement.

Flight activities that will not be permitted in the 12 nautical-mile radius around the airport during this five-hour window include flight training, general aviation (such as “private pilots”), drones (uncrewed aerial systems), and sightseeing flights.

No commercial flights have been proactively delayed or cancelled during that time, but the airport authority encourages the traveling public to confirm the status of their flight directly with their airline as “they remain the best source of information for their specific flight.”

During this TFR, regularly scheduled commercial service flights, law-enforcement flights, military aircraft flights directly supporting the U.S. Secret Service and office of the President of the United States, approved air-ambulance flights, and regularly scheduled cargo flights will be allowed to proceed as normal within the defined TFR circle.

However, the time frame will include brief windows when all aircraft operations and ground-transportation access will be locked down. The brief windows will include the time immediately preceding the arrival of Air Force One, while President Biden is on the ground at the airport, and immediately preceding the departure of Air Force One from the Syracuse airport.