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New hangars being built at Stafford airport
Business picking up at the Stafford Regional Airport
BY BILL FREEHLING
Date published: 10/18/2007
BY BILL FREEHLING
Stafford Regional Airport has hit some rough patches in its first six years. But there are signs that clearer skies lie ahead.
The airport, off Centreport Parkway in the middle of Stafford County, has been open since Dec. 13, 2001.
Since then, two airport directors have come and gone. The nearby Interstate 95 interchange was delayed 18 months. The airport's publicly funded operating budget was doubled to $200,000. Some people grew frustrated about the slow growth. Others thought it created too much noise.
But of late there seems to be more positive news.
The airport sold about 296,000 gallons of fuel in the 2007 fiscal year. That's about 50 percent more than was sold in fiscal 2005. Fuel sales are up about 7.6 percent in the first three months of fiscal 2008 compared with a year ago.
"People are discovering us," said airport manager Ed Wallis, who is the facility's first full-time manager.
The seven-person Stafford Regional Airport Authority oversees the operations. The board is composed of four members from Stafford, two from Prince William County and one from Fredericksburg. Those localities provide the airport with its $200,000 operating budget. The percentage each pays is determined by the number of members on the board. Stafford, therefore, provides four-sevenths of the funds.
Increasing fuel sales are just one of the reasons Wallis is optimistic the airport will be self-sufficient within a few years.
Three 16,560-square-foot T-hangars are now under construction, and the first occupants will likely be able to move in by January. Each hangar can hold one jet and nine smaller planes. Those three hangars will increase the airport's number of potential tenants by 30. It currently has just one hangar, or 10 spots.
The small units cost $477 per month to rent, Wallis said. The larger units cost $1,265 per month. The three additional hangars will bring the airport about $200,000 more revenue each year, which will be used to repay loans for construction.
Wallis said there are 41 people on the waiting list for the hangars. He said additional units will be built in coming years. A 10,000-square-foot terminal is being designed.
Further, all of the airport's currently developable areas now have access to water, sewer and electric. Space for corporate hangars is available. Vertol Systems Inc., an Oregon-based aviation company, is the first tenant.
Read more stories about Stafford
Date published: 10/18/2007
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