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.

FMI: www.flypvg.com