Business View Magazine - August 2023

193 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 8 CANYONLANDS REGIONAL AI RPORT is in the works right now and another that is very interested in this option,” she continues. “The great thing about this option is that you don’t have to put in a ton of infrastructure.” Location is a bit of an issue for the airport, Howland admits. “We are kind of in the middle of nowhere,” she hints. Indeed, the city of Moab is over 20 miles from the airport, and compounding its accessibility is that it is 1000 feet in elevation so the drive to the airport is uphill for most of the way. This also becomes a liability when it boils down to the commercial prospects around the airport grounds due to limited existing infrastructure, she further outlines. “The biggest thing about where we are is that it hinders that sort of development mainly due to the water source. There is no city water or sewer here and the airport has to pump its water from a well with all our sewage collected through a septic tank system. “We don’t have the sewer and water supply to attract larger corporations.” The airport does have a few significant aviation-related businesses including Skydive Moab, Canyonlands Ballooning, and Red Tail Air which is the airport’s FBO and operators of daily scenic flights. Also providing a bird’s eye view of the famously beautiful region around the airport are Pinnacle Helicopter and Moab Heli X, both also based at the airport. The airport will be applying for Airport Improvement Funds from the FAA for anticipated capital improvements “The first project we have coming up is removing and replacing the Alpha One Connector to eliminate a displaced threshold and the FAA is suggesting we make this our top upgrade.” “Design for this will be in 2023 with construction possibly starting in 202 and possibly through