Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 12

145 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 12 LUMBERTON MUNI C I PAL A I RPORT halfway down the country towards Florida on the Eastern seaboard, we are also just 20 miles from the border between North and South Carolina. Pilots stop here to get gas, or to rest, or just to have a break before continuing the flight south. We have a beautiful new terminal, with 5000 square feet devoted to passengers and pilots. There is a lounge with all the modern amenities, and some interesting details such as a carpet runner that is the same as the layout of the runway.” The top floor of the terminal has another 5000 feet of office space that will be rented out to aviation businesses, and there is also a passenger lounge with snacks for sale. Lewis admits, “I recently took over as Airport Manager, and a lot of the transition has been just picking up the various projects we have been working on and trying to bring them forward. For me, that means focusing our efforts on the most urgent and then moving ahead.” The first project that is now beginning is the development of a new business park at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Interstate 74. While the planning for this has been ongoing, the ground is just being broken at the location, but it is anticipated that this project will bring a huge boost in business and corporate traffic, both to the airport and to the town. This will only add to what Lumberton Municipalr is already seeing – more planes. “This year alone we have seen double our normal traffic for general aviation,” Lewis reports, “Again, I think this has more to do with our geographic location than anything else, but there does seem to be more tourism and more corporate traffic in the area, as well. There just must be more people flying.” Lumberton Municipal Airport traces its beginnings to a town council meeting in 1940, when plans were first being made to build a local airfield. But before the construction started, the Second World War brought a new need for