Will Base P-3 Orion And Other Aircraft At Lakeland Linder Airport

Lakeland Linder Airport in central Florida will be the new home of NOAA's P-3 Orion hurricane hunters and other aircraft next year.

The city held a news conference Wednesday to announce the move. The Air Force chose not to continue its relationship with NOAA to base the aircraft at nearby MacDill Air Force Base. In all, nine NOAA aircraft will be relocated to the airport. The Ledger newspaper reports that NOAA will pay the airport about $6.8 million for the use of the Airside Center for the next five years. The contract includes an option for another five years at a cost of $5.8 million.

The amount represents about three times what the airport received from its previous tenant, which was evicted for nonpayment of rent, according to the report.

City Manager Tony Delgado said that recent investments in the airport, including a new control tower and an aircraft firefighting and rescue facility were key to landing NOAA as a tenant. The airport has used some $100 million in federal, state and local funds to make those improvement over the past six year.

Delgado said that people in the community are now seeing Lakeland Linder Airport as an "economic driver" in the region.

The NOAA contract will bring 100 high-skilled, high-wage jobs to the area, and suppliers that work with the hurricane hunters may also consider relocating to the area. The relocation is expected to occur May 1, 2017.

Delgado said that the airport will use profits generated by the contract to continue development of a large maintenance facility on the airport's north side.

(Images from file)

FMI: www.lakelandairport.com, www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/aircraft-operations/about/hurricane-hunters