Sat, Jul 10, 2010
Hangars Not Ready, Sit Empty Two Months After Opening
The GA hangars at the new Northwest
Florida Beaches International Airport (KECP) are still empty nearly
two months after the facility officially opened, and pilots say
they are not comparable to what they have at their old home.
There are 60 GA hangars on the property of the new airport, but
a spokeswoman for Bay Aircraft Owners, an organization of pilots in
the region, says multiple problems still exist. Mary Stittman says
the hangar size and power sources don't meet contract
specifications, and Randy Curtis, the airport executive director,
says things like drainage problems have slowed the county's
approval of the facilities. "If there are areas that are not in
compliance then the contractor will have to make those
corrections," he told television station WMBB. Stittman said GA
pilots were also disappointed that no crosswind runway was
constructed when the new airport was built .
In the meantime, GA pilots are
operating from the old Panama City airport (KPFN), but it has lost
its control tower and there is no fuel available. Stittman says
that when the weather is marginal, pilots are forced to land at the
new airport, where parking facilities are scarce, or go to nearby
Marianna airport (KMAI). That airport is reportedly courting Panama
City pilots with discounts on fuel.
The GA hangars at the new airport were promised by June 3rd, but
the complications have pushed that back until July 31st at the
earliest.
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