Business View Magazine | June 2019

215 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JUNE 2019 new facilities; we emphasize customer service; and it’s an easy in and out. A long line for us is about ten minutes, whereas a long line at Miami or Orlando might be hours. So, it’s efficiency for the passengers to be able to come and go; they spend less time in the Airport than they would in some larger facilities. So from an airline perspective, that’s one thing, we think, that gives us a distinct advantage. “In the general aviation realm, we compete with several other airports in the region. But also being a commercial airport, we’re able to offer more extensive services to our general aviation and corporate users. You go to Duplin County, which is one of the nearest, publicly-owned, general aviation airports – they have a shorter runway; they don’t have air traffic service; they don’t have fire or police protection; they don’t necessarily have all the instrument approaches you might find at an airport like ours. When you have a general aviation airport, you often don’t have the same support companies, but when you have a commercial airport, like ours, now the general and corporate aviation population has access to six rental car companies and a full-service restaurant, as well as the law enforcement that’s required on the commercial side. So, the general and corporate aviation is a beneficiary of those additional services.” White says that the road ahead for OAJ includes encouraging more aviation-related businesses to locate their operations there, and it is preparing sites that he feels would “be attractive to those types of operators – manufacturers, MROs, things like that,” he states. “We have ample space to continue to grow; opportunities for development; and a very willing, educated, and aviation-focused workforce. That’s one good thing about being in a military town – you have a constant flow of trained personnel coming out of the air station. We can support the aviation-focused industry here; we have wide open spaces and no encroachment, which makes it easy to develop. The Airport has got top-notch facilities, state-of-the-art, modern facilities, and welcoming and pleasing personnel. And we’re an important link for both residents and visitors. As they say, ‘one mile of road takes you one mile; one mile of runway takes you anywhere in the world.’” THE ALBERT J . ELL I S A I RPORT