The Warrenton-Fauquier Airport

AT A GLANCE WARRENTON-FAUQUIER AIRPORT WHAT: A county-owned, public-use airport WHERE: Southeast of Warrenton, Virginia WEBSITE: www.fauquiercounty.gov/government/departments-h-z/warrenton-fauquier-airport T he Warrenton-Fauquier Airport is a county-owned, general aviation airport located 14 miles southeast of the central business district of Warrenton, a town in Fauquier County, Virginia. “The Airport started as a small grass strip in the early 1960s,” recounts Airport Director, Dave Darrah. “It became popular with local folks and grew beyond the grass strip into a paved runway. In the late ‘90s, the County purchased it from the owners and it became a County airport run by a committee. Then in 2012, they hired me and turned the Airport into a department within the County government.” Today, the 407-acre Airport, with one 5,000-ft. asphalt runway, serves as a reliever airport for Dulles and Washington International Airports. It is run as an enterprise fund that operates on a self-sustaining basis to support the needs of its tenant businesses and the aviation community. “While the County does not subsidize the Airport, we are included in its capital improvement program to underwrite the County’s share of grants from the FAA and the State Department of Aviation,” Darrah says. Since taking the helm at Warrenton-Fauquier, Darrah reports that there has been quite a bit of activity, at the Airport. By far, the biggest new project was the construction of a brand new, $4.8 million, state-of-the-art terminal building. “The terminal is done,” he relates. “It took a little longer than we determined, because we A NEW “GREEN” TERMINAL