Private Airport Approved, Paving the Way for Development

Folks in the Las Vegas, Nevada aerospace ecosystem may gain an additional airport, now that the FAA has approved plans to develop a field 31 miles west of Harry Reid International.

The FAA anticipates the usual GA mix to operate there, with single, multi-engine, and helicopter ops slated in their documentation. The airport will sport a single runway, though that will likely change in time as needs shift. Today, the project holds about $10 million in funding from investors, but they've said they need another $20 million in order to meet their first funding goal.

CEO and developer Rob Lauer has been making the rounds in Vegas, getting attention on the project as they look to offer something much less crowded than Henderson. If things go as planned, they should be breaking ground on the new strip in about 3 months. 

Phase 2 will see the addition of a terminal and hangars for jet traffic, with the final phase revolving around a new hotel and casino. Lauer says that they will take full advantage of "F1 and all the events where there's not enough room for the planes to come in", making reference to the oftentimes painful congestion of incoming traffic. 

The airport is just part of what they hope to eventually turn into the Las Vegas Spaceport, with educational facilities turning out space pilots and a secondary education facility with full flight sims and mechanic training. In such a vision, Lauer envisions a spaceport geared more towards space shuttles than rockets, which would provide a more neatly dovetailed integration between standard airport operation and eventual space flight.

FMI: www.lasvegasspaceport.org