Friday, February 16, 2001
Friday, February 16, 2001 |
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Airport authority wants to attract more jets, money
By JOHN
MUNFORD
In hopes of attracting aircraft that consume the more-profitable jet fuel and thereby enhance the bottom line the Peachtree City Airport Authority is preparing an ad campaign. The selling point: free land, to operations that locate to Falcon Field and purchase at least 2,000 gallons of jet fuel each month from the airport. In doing so, the airport would receive greater profit than if it used going rates to lease the property out through the normal method. In other words, the rent would technically be free, but operators would still have to construct their own hangar facilities to get the deal. At its meeting Wednesday night, the authority voted to spend up to $1,500 for the advertisements, which will be targeted towards businesses and others who operate jet aircraft. In other business, the authority approved its master plan for the next 15 years, including a table of improvements it wants to make in priority order. All told, the authority hopes to spend $23 million in the next five years to upgrade and expand the airport facilities. That includes a projected $14.6 million in federal funds, $388,000 in state funds and $1.2 million in local funds along with $6.8 million in private funding. One piece of the puzzle includes the installation of a precision landing system, although it is not known at this time how much that could run. Partly, that's because it is unclear what type of equipment the FAA will require Falcon Field to use for the precision landing system. A precision landing system would allow aircraft to follow a straight descent to the runway as opposed to "leveling off" several times as they get closer to the airport, which is currently the only way pilots can land. The precision landing system would send signals to the cockpit to help the pilot navigate straight in. Authority chairman David Good said the conclusion of the master plan process was a major accomplishment. Now, the authority is waiting to hear about a $360,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to allow the third phase of the southeast hangar area to be completed. The precision landing system is a bit further down the priority list for the authority. The southeast hangar project is first on the list, followed by, in order: Land acquisition for hangar area C. Paving a runway overrun to give jets more time to take off. Improving airport lighting and signage. Expansion of the terminal airport apron "transient ramp" and paving the access road to hangar area A. The authority also approved sending out requests for proposals for an accounting firm to perform the authority's yearly audit.
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