hit, we were going backward pretty fast,” he laments. “The FBO that we had at that time had driven away most of its business. But since then, our FBO has changed hands twice. Our current FBO operator is Revv Aviation, and they’re the main reason that revenue and the flights have gone up; we’re getting back to the numbers that we used to have 20 years ago. Everybody that comes here likes what they see; they like the service, the quality of the service, and the way they’re treated. It’s made a difference for us.” In addition to better service for its customers, the airport has made significant infrastructure upgrades over the past several years. “The runway is virtually new,” Cooper reports.“We replaced a 1947 runway in the early 2000s. Our 7,200 X 100-foot runway allows most jets to get in and out without having to worry about runway length. We’ve replaced the taxiway – increased its width and strength.” “Our apron is quite large for an airport this size. We can handle Airbus, 737, and 757-type traffic without any problem. Probably, the biggest upgrade we’ve done lately is to our lighting. We became only the fifth airport in the nation to have all LED signs. We were also the first airport in the state to have all LED runways and taxi lights. Our PAPIs (Precision Approach Path Indicator) and REILs (Runway End Identifier Lights) are all LED, so we’re the first allLED airport in the state.Also, we have excellent snow service in the winter; we’re open when a lot of other airports are not. It’s just a good airport to use.” MANY DIVERSE AIRPORT CUSTOMERS And use it they do – GA aircraft, corporate jets, medical flights, and more. “We have numerous general aviation aircraft that come through and, particularly, during our pheasant season, which occurs in the fall, we have numerous aircraft that come in for an opening day of the season that begins in September and goes through January,” Cooper notes. “We had 102 jet operations in three weeks during the opening few weeks of pheasant season this past year. We had everything from regional jets down 5 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 07 HURON REGIONAL AIRPORT
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