NORTH BEND — The Southwest Oregon Regional Airport’s manager has big plans for bigger planes, but it will take a bigger runway.

Should the project come to fruition, airport officials likely would face stringent government oversight and maybe opposition. At least that’s what happened when the airport extended one of its runways in the late ’80s. The city controlled the airport then.

Timm Slater, executive director of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, was the mayor of North Bend at the time.

“It’s a pretty extensive process,” he said. “The greatest challenge is assessing what the impact to the bay would be.”

Slater said airport officials could expect to deal with multiple federal and state agencies to mitigate any environmental concerns. Any impact to estuaries is a particularly sensitive issue, he said.

Two decades ago, despite one individual’s very vocal concern about impacts, the community was largely in favor of the expansion, Slater said.

He estimates the project took three to four years to complete.

Airport Executive Director Gary LeTellier wants to get a jump on the process. He is encouraging the Coos County Airport District board to do environmental studies now.

SkyWest owns 50-seat jets, but they don’t land here because there’s not enough demand, said Mike Lehman, board chairman.

That could change.

Come next summer, the airport may need a larger carrier during peak travel time. SkyWest’s CRJ200 would accommodate more passengers and significantly more cargo than its current 25-seat plane, Lehman said. The plane also would cut travel time by an hour, he said.

Lehman said the north/south runway is long enough to support the larger plane, but only under ideal conditions. Skies must be clear blue and the runway bone dry. The airport’s east/west runway, however, would have to be extended by several hundred feet.

That would require construction and paving near wetlands.

“We can make that extension without significant infill,” he said.

Regardless, the feds would require the airport to do a study on the environmental impacts. That would take about two years.

Study money likely would come from the Federal Aviation Administration, he said. Federal grants are also available to support an eventual runway extension project.

The assessment also might look at the possibility of extending a runway by several thousand feet should the airport someday need to accommodate cargo planes.

If the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay is successful in getting a container terminal, it would “almost certainly bring demand” for a cargo plane, Lehman said.

Martin Callery, port spokesman, said APM Terminals, AP Moeller Maersk subsidiary, still is interested in building a container terminal on Coos Bay. But the poor economy has put the project on hold.

“I wouldn’t say it’s off the table,” Callery said.

The port hasn’t discussed cargo planes as a supplement to a container terminal. He said it’s possible to transfer cargo from boats to planes, but the decision would be up to shippers. Air cargo is one of the most expensive ways to move cargo.

“It would have to be a high-value commodity to benefit from air freight,” Callery said.

Of course, plans for an airport expansion are very preliminary, Lehman stressed. Other than the environmental assessment, there is no need for immediate action.

“We’re looking far down the road, but starting the planning process,” Lehman said.