The Golden Triangle Regional Airport will be a temporary home for pilots training at Columbus Air Force Base.
GTRA Executive Director Mike Hainsey said some classes and training flights will relocate to the airport next summer while the 50-year-old runway at the air base is repaved. Hainsey briefed the airport board authority at its Friday meeting.
The authority will have a pre-bid conference next month for a $350,000 project to renovate the Air Force hanger at the airport. That space will be used starting next June or July for about eight months while the base’s oldest runway gets a full upgrade.
“It’s all positive for us,” Hainsey said. Columbus is the busiest air base in the world. Closing one runway creates a burden. Their use of the hanger at Golden Triangle will be free.
“They’re thrilled that they’re getting this kind of help,” Hainsey said.
He informed the board he is working on a marketing strategy to capture more of the Tuscaloosa, Ala., market.
People from small towns would rather fly from smaller airports, Hainsey said. People in Aliceville, Ala., said they would pay more to fly from the Golden Triangle airport than to drive to Birmingham, Ala. GTRA is the same distance for those residents as Birmingham.
The airport’s location between Mississippi State University and University of Alabama is another selling point, he said. Other opportunities for expansion include Tupelo and west Alabama.
Hainsey said the airport is viable. “We’re holding our own through this economy.”
Parking costs increased in November to $8.25 a day. Long-term parking is one free day for every six days, he said.
The board will meet again Jan. 20.
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