Airport opens first corporate hangar
February 28, 2012, 02:59 pm
The Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville, Tennessee, recently opened its first corporate aircraft hangar. As part of a multi-year project to increase corporate aircraft facilities at the airport, the first of seven hangars was unveiled. The remaining six are expected to be constructed over the course of 20 years.
According to TriCities.com, the 15,500-square-foot hangar cost $2.3 million to build, which was mostly funded by grants from the Tennessee Transportation Equity Fund. This program uses state taxes on jet fuel and tires purchased at the airport to support modernization projects. The regional airport was required to pay about 10 percent of the construction costs under the terms of the grants.
The airport has already leased out half of the new hangar to Aero Leasing, a division of Gregory Management company. The hangar is currently housing a Citation Sovereign at the hangar, to be used as Gregory's plane as well as a charter aircraft for executive jet management - the largest jet service in the United States. Gregory signed a five-year lease with the airport, paying $6,600 per month for the space. The other half of the hangar is expected to be leased to another tenant soon, and the second hangar should be complete in the next five years, the source reported.
In 2007, the regional airport started to discuss expanding to meet the growing needs of corporate customers. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the use and demand of private corporate jets increased significantly, as more restrictions were placed on commercial airline travelers. Thus, airports started to develop custom-made facilities to house multi-million dollar planes and jets for corporate business, the source reported.
"We were at a point where our corporate hangars were basically full for corporate operators," Patrick Wilson, executive director of the airport, told Times News. "The (airport) commission wanted to make sure the region had a facility for someone willing to travel throughout the world to do business. Having this space available makes sure we can promote this area of corporate aviation."
The source reported the 150-foot wide hangar can hold two medium to large business aircrafts with wingspans up to 65 feet and tail heights of 25 feet. The hangar also includes office space and flight planning areas for crew and maintenance personnel to operate. Ground space is available for other corporate hangars in the south side under the airport's proposed master plan. These areas will be developed in the upcoming years to meet growing demand for private jet space.
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