The Watsonville Municipal Airport

THEWATSONVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT time, and purchased fuel at the discounted price, and provided a fuel receipt to the restaurant, the restaurant would provide a discount. This three- pronged approach was the ‘Total Package.’ Ini- tially, Second Saturdays started out slowly, but it became so successful that we were selling three times as much fuel on Second Saturdays than we did on any other Saturday.We also discovered the restaurant had more uptick of, not only airside business - pilots flying in - but landside business, as well, given that the local community and visi- tors were coming to see the airplanes.” Williams’ next step was to advertise the Sec- ond Saturday program on a popular independent, aviation fuel price website. He explains, “When a pilot would check the site and bring up an airport near Watsonville during a Second Saturday, an advert in the side bar would say: ‘Go to Watson- ville.’ Second Saturday became so popular that the program was expanded to ‘Second Weekends.’ That’s one example of what we call ‘Active Avia- tion Applications.’ “We’ve done other things, too.We have para- chute landing on the field–no other nearby airport does that.We have a helicopter charter service that’s here - no other airport in the area does that. And, most recently, we have leased hangar space to a hi-tech aviation start-up for R&D and manufacturing. Their product is a Quad- copter aircraft, the size of a motorcycle, that’s been approved for flight operations by the FAA. So, we’re reaching out and bringing more oppor- tunities and aviation-related activities to the field. We don’t think other area airports are using this approach.” Williams is also intent on expanding business opportunities both within the Airport’s perimeter and just outside of it. “On the landside, we have a small commercial park that runs parallel to a roadway, Aviation Way,” he notes. “On the south- east side of that road, we have property that belongs to the Airport.Within this area, we serve as landlords for a successful hat making compa- ny, a diesel maintenance facility, and a custom, classic car/hot rod engineering shop. Additionally, Watsonville Municipal has a number of industrial Discover our fuel and service solutions wfscorp.com/aviation From reliable fuel delivery and faster payments with card programs and processing, to providing state-of-the-art global trip support, World Fuel Services has the breadth to work as a true partner by developing solutions created specifically for you. Whether we’re helping customers meet operational performance goals, or investing in facilities to help drive growth, we’re able to deliver the customized solutions you need. Contact us, and meet the aviation solutions provider who understands your World. Solutions and services for your World . Fuel | Trip Support | Card and Rewards | Technology | Logistics | Marketing centers, each offering different services –one is an exterminating service; one is a precision engi- neering service; one produces computer testing equipment for cell towers. So, we do have areas around the Airport that are available for commer- cial development.” Regarding airside development, Williams says, “My predecessor was very astute relative to sur- rounding property. He purchased property at the ends of the runways to ensure on-going Airport control, and we’ve taken those properties to the next level. On one end of the Airport, we have a strawberry farmer; we have a driving range at the end of one of the runways; and we have a small maintenance area that’s used for storing low profile materials. And we’re looking for other airside opportunities - a company that’s looking to build the next generation electric car, or drones, or a solar company that wants to have a solar array on the field. A serious challenge is the entire 330 acres are critical habitat for two animals and a plant. That means that we have to go through