A Washington, D.C. federal appeals court has upheld a 2023 environmental approval of Tweed New Haven Airport’s long-planned expansion — providing a key victory for the airport’s efforts to build a new terminal and an extended runway. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit handed down that 18-page decision on Tuesday in the case Save the Sound v. Federal Aviation Administration. Click here to read the decision in full. The underlying case stemmed from a 2024 appeal filed by the local environmental nonprofit Save the Sound and the Town of East Haven. The petitioners had sought to challenge the FAA’s finding in December 2023 that Tweed’s plan to construct a new terminal in East Haven and extend the airport’s main runway by nearly 1,000 feet — which was first announced in 2021 — would have no significant environmental impact on the surrounding area. The FAA found that the airport’s expansion would actually reduce the number of “enplanements” — and, therefore, air pollution — near the Morris Cove regional airport. That’s because the demand for increased air traffic at Tweed will result in more flights no matter what, the FAA predicted. As Judge Gregory Katsas wrote in Tuesday’s decision, “With the runway extension, the FAA projected that Tweed would see fewer flights with more passengers per flight due to the use of full-capacity 737-800s. … Without the extension, the FAA projected more flights with fewer passengers per flight due to the reduced capacity.”

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2026/07/21/court-upholds-tweed-expansion-approval/