Plan To Be Submitted For FAA Approval, Possible Funding

A master plan has been approved for Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (DVT) in Arizona, one of the busiest general aviation airports in the nation.

The 914-acre facility on the north side of Phoenix handled more than 400,000 takeoffs and landings in 2006 and officials are expecting it to grow even more. It's said more than $130 million in improvements will be needed to accommodate that growth, according to the Arizona Republic.

DVT's operations are expected to approach 650,000 by 2025.

The next step is to submit the plan for approval by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Carl Newman, Phoenix's assistant aviation director, which could mean eligibility for federal funding, as well.

Ray Weigold, president of the Deer Valley Pilots Association, which represents more than 1,000 airport tenants, said initial fear that current tenants would be sacrificed for new corporate aviation tenants caused the group to originally oppose the plan, but says those concerns have since been "alleviated."

Some of the improvements scheduled for DVT include extending the north runway from 4,500 to 6,080 feet and widening it to 100 feet from the current 75; replacing several small hangars on the southern side of the runways with new ones on the north side with corresponding service areas; keeping jets to the southern side of the airport, and small, private aircraft on the north side.

FMI: www.phoenix.gov/deervalleyairport, www.dvtpilot.com