Monterey Airport hopes to add a more robust U.S. Port of Entry facility and personnel

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Monterey Regional Airport announced that they are looking for additional personnel to fill new positions that they would like to add to their U.S. Port of Entry.

"There was someone assigned here that was shared on the peninsula with other entities that needed customs, and so the airport always had port of entry, but that person retired," said Deputy Executive Director | Planning & Marketing Chris Morello. "For the past almost 18 years we have not had someone assigned to us here as a customs employee."

Morello says that the airport hopes to get a personnel assigned specifically to the Monterey Airport to help the local business, hospitality and agriculture communities.

"For large events, for example, those aircrafts that are coming internationally could land here directly," she said. "Currently when they come, they land at another airport, they get cleared for customs then they take off back here to Monterey. That would make it much more efficient and help the business communities here."

Morello said that in addition to the new terminal construction that's currently taking place at the airport, they would like to also include a newly remodeled space for the potential customs facility.

"It would have to be a segregated space for all of them to be able to clear the aircraft, clear the goods and services on the aircraft and clear the personnel that are coming off of that aircraft," she said.

According to Morello, the addition of a larger customs facility will not happen overnight. She said that the airport still needs to get the application approved and a person assigned to fill the role.

Morello is hoping that this can all happen within the next 1.5 to 2 years.