GA Getting the Boot at North Carolina Airport

“Yes, we are taking back leased aeronautical land close to the airport terminal from Signature [Aviation], the fixed base operator (FBO) at [KAVL]," ARAA spokesperson Tina Kinsey told Asheville news outlet AVL Watchdog. “Commercial aviation is the key driver of revenue for our airport and is vastly important to our region’s residents and the economic strength of western North Carolina, so we must utilize our aeronautical land closest to the terminal to meet commercial aviation needs, especially as commercial air service capacity continues to expand.”

The plan to take over the Signature property, a roughly 40-acre footprint including older, leased hangars, is part of a $400 million airport expansion program. The project will increase the commercial airline terminal to 12 gates from the current seven.

Kinsey said that the master plan includes adding “areas for development suitable for more general aviation hangars in the future.” But those hangars “will not be constructed and managed by the airport authority.”

The new hangars would be built and managed by independent businesses, such as Signature, “or others who wish to do business at the airport,” and who will lease the land as tenants of the airport authority. This is standard procedure for municipally sponsored airports, and since the tenant FBOs’ investment in construction is substantial, the leases tend to be long-term—20 years or more.

Signature Aviation will see a $54,000 reduction in annual rent. The Signature KAVL general manager Matt Thocker told AVL Watchdog that the new plans still leave sufficient hangar and ramp space for the FBO.

“It doesn’t have any detrimental effects.” Thocker said.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.