Great Falls International Airport

GREAT FALLS INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT back in 2013. It opened at the end of the year. We have an expanded checkpoint, a new concession area, and some new terminal seating areas there. Now we’re going to come back and pick up the pre-security side; dress that up a little bit, too.” Eagle Jet Solutions, one of the Airport’s newest tenants, has just opened the largest private hangar in Montana. Capable of holding two Boeing 737s, the 40,000-square-foot hangar is the first project in a 20-acre aviation park being developed by the Airport Authority. “Their business plan assumes that many of the other airports can’t accommodate 737s, and that most of these other airports are full for GA airplanes,” shares Faulkner. “They believe there’s an opportunity to have planes repositioned to Great Falls.” Other tenants of note within the Montana Aeroplex development include I-State Trucking Service Center, Love’s Truck Stops, Fleet Maintenance Service, and Avmax. “When you look at every business that’s out here, it’s about 500-600 people who report to work on the hill,” Faulkner says. “Avmax - they’re capable of any type of work on regional jets, and through their Calgary operation, even much larger jets. Having them on our field is special. Having FedEx up here is very special. It’s just a rich aviation community up here to support businesses and pilots that want to move in.” The facets of value the Airport presents for its neighbors are plenty and multiplying. “You really can’t go wrong with Great Falls,” Faulkner insists. “There are only 50 Category III airports in the whole country, and we have one of them. We’ve made major investments in snow equipment to ensure that we’re reliable, mostly for FedEx and, on top of that, the Guard. They need to fly at a moment’s notice, so our infrastructure is maintained in a world-class fashion. There aren’t a lot of airports our size, particularly in our region, that can offer the amount of value we provide. We’ve got a lot of vacant land—land is a scarce resource. And we’re very pro-business up here. We want to see development. Our Board wants to see development. We always try to work closely with interested parties to get their projects situated. There’s a lot of flexibility here