Business View Magazine | August 2019

126 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 that our numbers, year over year, were down; year over two years, they were about the same, or up. What we’re seeing now, as we get to summer, the numbers continue to go up, the flights are doing well, and we’re showing that by late July/August, we’ll actually have more seats in our market than we’ve had in ten years. So, by the end of the year, we expect to be up.” “Colorado Springs is not a small piece of property,” Phillips adds. “We have 7,200 acres, total, and three runways. We’ve got the fifth longest commercial service runway in the country, which means that almost anything can land here. And the fact that we’ve got 7,200 acres means that almost anybody can develop here. So, we have an awful lot of space that we can continue to develop for aeronautical purposes, and for non-aeronautical purposes.” Some of that space has recently been absorbed by the Peterson Air Force Base. “We’ve just completed a 276-acre expansion of the Peterson Air Force Base lease, which allows them to look at new land for development and to shuffle some parcels around that will help them,” Phillips notes. “One of the really exciting things is the discussion about the Space Force and having named General Raymond, who is the Commander of the Air Force Space Command and additionally, the U.S. Commander of Space Force. So, as the country looks at locations for its headquarters, Colorado Springs is certainly at the top of that discussion. And if it happens here, that will, undoubtedly lead to expansion on Peterson Air Force Base, and, possibly, other bases and facilities around Colorado Springs. There’s a strong argument for Space Force being here with NORAD (North American Air Defense Command), NORTHCOM, the Air Force Academy, and Schriever Air Force Base that controls most space satellite systems around the country, here already. So that’s exciting.” Several other Airport tenants are expanding, as well. “Sierra Nevada Corporation just got a certificate of occupancy for another 60,000-sq.- ft. hangar,” says Phillips. “They’ve built almost 150,000 square feet of hangar space in the last three years and we’re having discussions about