attract new general aviation customers who want to leave their aircraft here at the airport but also more corporate customers who want to base their aircraft here. One of the challenges many airports throughout the country have right now is the lack of space for aircraft.We are one of the few ones that are pursuing building new hangars to increase our based customer list. We’re expected to increase our base customers by about 30 to 40 aircraft next year. So, we’re excited about that.” Concurrent with the new hangar space is the recent awarding of an FAA-145 certification to one of the airport’s service providers, Appalachian Aero Group, which will allow it to provide repair services.“Having that FAA-certified maintenance facility available is a big attractor for people wanting to decide to put their airplane in an airport,” Hunsucker adds. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS TAKE OFF At the end of the airport’s remaining runway, Hunsucker reports that it has plans to install an EMAS (Engineered Material Arresting System), which uses crushable material to help stop an aircraft that overruns it. “Another thing we’re looking into is extending our runway,” he notes.“It’s currently 6,400 feet long and we want to go out to 7,000 feet, which will allow us to accommodate larger aircraft, and for the aircraft here to be able to carry more fuel as they depart out of Hickory, which will extend their trip. We’re also doing some other capital improvement projects like reconfiguring some of the taxiways to simplify the system here, and possibly pursuing some paving projects in the future to keep our surfaces to the highest standard we can.” While Hickory Regional no longer hosts a commercial airline, it’s able to accommodate aircraft as large as Airbuses and 737s, and it has retained its FAA139 certificate, which certifies that it meets all the standards to provide such services. “What’s holding us back at this time is that our terminal is not compliant with Homeland Security and TSA,” Hunsucker explains. “You have to remember; back when we last had commercial service, those agencies didn’t exist. So, we’re trying to renovate our existing terminal to try and attract a commercial carrier. And that would include better security and building to TSA compliance -- they have certain rules for how 156 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 06
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