Meridian Regional Airport will not offer commercial flights the week of August 17-23 because the airport’s main runway will be rehabilitated that week.

Workers will put a new asphalt surface on the runway, which is the longest public runway in Mississippi, according to Meridian Airport Authority President Tom Williams.

He noted that the runway was last rehabilitated in 1999-2000.

“It’s due to be repaved or, in FAA words, rehabilitated,” he said.

Williams said the last time the runway was repaved, the work was completed overnight, which allowed the airport to be open during the day. However, this process was inefficient, both for the airport and for the contractor.

“We ended up having to close the runway 77 nights in ’99 and 2000,” he said.

This time, the airport hired a contractor that can do all of the work in one week.

The project is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air National Guard, according to a press release. The FAA is contributing $6.5 million to the project, and National Guard is contributing $1 million.

Williams said in a press release that the week of August 17-23 was chosen for the project because SkyWest reported that only 12 airline tickets had been sold so far for that week, which was the lowest number of tickets of all weeks that were under consideration for the closure.

The Air National Guard will have to temporarily relocate during the weeklong closure. The airport will still service private aircraft and small military aircraft, though, Williams said.

During the project, contractors will install a stress layer of rock under the overlay to prevent pavement cracks and will overlay the runway. At a later date, workers will groove the pavement and place permanent markings on the runway, but those tasks will be completed at night and will not impact commercial flights.