The Buchanan Field Airport

which runs scheduled charters between the Airport and Burbank, CA, and Las Vegas, NV, and, according to Keith Freitas, Director of Airports for Contra Costa County, is hoping to expand its service to San Diego, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle. The Airport is also the home base of approximately 450 GA aircraft and over two dozen business jets, as well as many aviation and non-aviation based businesses, including three FBOs, several air charter and leasing companies, flight schools and flying clubs, an air medical transport firm, a U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol, a Crowne Plaza Hotel, restaurants, car sales and rental companies, a Sam’s Club, and the Buchanan Fields Golf Course. Buchanan Field Airport covers 495 acres and has four asphalt and concrete runways, 1L/19R is 5,001 by 150 feet; 1R/19L is 2,770 by 75 feet; 14L/32R is 4,602 by 150 feet; and 14R/32L is 2,799 by 75 feet. Regarding the Airport’s competition for general aviation activity, Beth Lee, Assistant Director of Airports, Business & Administration, relates “We’re always in competition with our closest airports, because our patrons have other choices; they don’t have to work with us if they don’t want to. But one of the things that sets us apart is our location. We’re close to San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento, but we don’t have as much traffic in our airspace. We’re also a good driving distance from those places, so a lot of executives of major companies base their aircraft here.” The Buchanan Field Airport is county-owned, and according to Lee, it is entirely self sufficient, with 15 county employees. In fact, along with its sister facility, Byron Airport, another county-owned airport two miles south of Byron, Buchanan Field generates over $100 million in total direct and indirect annual economic output for the county, which includes the creation of over 800 jobs, $8 million in state and local tax revenue, and over $10 million in federal taxes. Freitas adds that Buchanan Field has about 50 acres of undeveloped land and, currently, he is negotiating with four separate entities for non- aviation related projects of various sizes. “They range from three acres to 17 acres, in what I classify as our business park,” he notes. “We are THE BUCHANAN F I ELD A I RPORT