Friday, January 12, 2001
Friday, January 12, 2001 |
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Jet business could mean big profit for Falcon Field
By JOHN
MUNFORD
The Peachtree City Airport Authority wants to bank heavily on bringing jet plane business to Falcon Field. The authority hopes it will make more money selling fuel to jet operators than it could leasing out parcels in Hangar Area B to other groups. The numbers presented at the authority's meeting Wednesday night showed that the authority could pull in a greater profit selling a minimum 2,000 gallons of jet fuel per month to an operator rather than renting those areas out at the highest lease rates that have been discussed. So the authority wants to offer free leases to jet operators who agree to purchase a minimum of 2,000 gallons a month of jet fuel from the airport. And 2,000 gallons of jet fuel is a very small number compared to what some operations actually use, said Airport Authority Chairman David Good. The highest monthly rent the authority has considered for the hangar area would bring in $977 a month. But selling a minimum of 2,000 gallons of jet fuel would bring in an additional $522 a month. Of course, the more jet fuel sold, the more the authority's profit margin would increase. If an operation purchases 5,000 gallons a month, the authority would make $1,772 more than if it leased the parcel to another operator. Good said the authority could guarantee competitive prices for jet fuel as long as it "built in" the needed profit margins to the fuel price. The authority also considered the possibility that another company could want to come in and take over the airport's fueling operation. If that happened, the authority's compensation would be negotiated, Good pointed out. After a detailed discussion, the authority voted unanimously to prepare a marketing campaign to attract the jet-based operators using the no-rent, minimum fuel purchase scenario. The price quotes on developing brochures will be discussed at the authority's next meeting. In other business, the authority re-appointed Good as chairman and H.E. Buffington as secretary. The authority also briefly reviewed its newly-revised master plan, which will be up for official adoption at the authority's February meeting.
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