Construction On A New Runway Will Kick Off Next Week
A new executive terminal will officially be opened at Hampton
Roads Executive Airport next week, and construction on a new runway
will get underway that same day. The grand opening celebration and
ribbon-cutting for the new runway will be held on Friday, May 6 at
noon with remarks from Congressman Randy Forbes and Virginia
Director of Aviation Randall Burdette. The event will be a
celebration of reaching a long awaited goal to better serve the
Hampton Roads community with new, first-class facilities for
aviation needs. Festivities will include a BBQ luncheon and Blue
Skies Grille menu for all participants, music, raffle of a week at
fly-in destination Bimini, Bahamas, and fuel discount coupons for
all attending pilots.
After four years of terminal study and design, construction on
the new $2,000,000 terminal facility was begun in the spring of
2010. The contemporary building features vast glass windows
in its spacious 20ft high passenger lobby for great air traffic
viewing, a planned patio for outdoor seating, 28-person conference
room, and state-of-the-art services for pilots and crew. The
construction also includes new access and turn-around for
automobile traffic. Funding for the terminal was provided by the
Department of Aviation of Virginia and the owners of the airport,
Virginia Aviation Associates LLC.
Equally important is the construction commencement of the new
runway. It took the owners - Steven I. "Steve" Fox and David A.
"Andy" Gibbs - ten years to seek final approval from the Corps of
Engineers, DEQ, DOAV and the FAA. Funding for the runway is being
provided by the FAA, DOAV and the owners of the airport. Inclusive
of land acquisition, environmental studies, design, and
construction, the project will top $30,000,000 in investment.
Hampton Roads Executive Airport positively impacts the local
community through its support of aviation businesses based at the
airport - five flight schools, aerial photography, aviation
maintenance and avionics, banner tow operations, aircraft
brokerage, corporate and business aviation activities, and
recreational aviation.
The facility is a public use, privately owned reliever airport,
ranked #2 in the State of Virginia among 57 non-towered airports in
annual operations (takeoffs and landings) and #3 for economic
drivers among all VA general aviation airports.