Oil boom leads to quick hangar expansion, airport director says

For the first time since the 1970s, the development of a hangar park is under way at Midland International Airport.

Three leases for executive hangars near the Commemorative Air Force already have been signed with the city of Midland, and a fourth will be finalized later this month. Director of Airports Marv Esterly said other contracts are in the works and calls continue coming in to claim the remaining hangars planned for the first phase of development. If interest remains at a steady level, Esterly said there could be two phases of new hangar developments complete within the next two years.

When the airport first set out to spur growth, he had estimated it could take 10 years to complete both phases.

"We have a lot of interest," Esterly said, walking toward a diagram of the first phase that will include the construction of nine hangars. "We're pretty sure we're going to fill this up by the end of the year."

With airlines continuing to cut capacity, Esterly said businesses and individuals are turning increasingly to private planes.

The number of general aviation flights leaving Midland -- which include non-commercial and non-military aircraft -- has risen more than 24 percent in January when compared with January 2011, according to data provided by Midland International Airport. For the fiscal year so far, fuel sales for general aviation activity are up 22.3 percent at the airport when compared with the same time period last year.

As that traffic has increased, so has the demand for a place to store corporate and private aircraft.

"It just seems right that we're having another boom, and we're expanding," Esterly said.

Path to growth

Esterly said that during the last boom, a company expressed interest in building a condominium hangar association to meet the needs of private aircraft owners. When the entity realized there were no utilities or roadways in the area, it deemed the project too expensive because of infrastructure costs.

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Oil boom leads to quick hangar expansion, airport director says