Business View Magazine | May 2019

135 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 WALLA WALLA REGIONAL A I RPORT 150 feet. The facility also includes a college flight school, an FBO, a charter flight business, an ag-spray business, and many general aviation and corporate hangars. It is the home base of approximately 100 GA aircraft, and Skoglund suggests that there is “lots of land available for lease. So, we can certainly work with a developer or a private person who wants to come in and build,” she explains. “I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the next few years, we were to add some more T-hangars. We also have, from the war days, large, 11,000-sq.-ft.barrel hangars. So, we will have a couple of those available that will be fixed up and back on the aviation market.” Over the years, Walla Walla has been served by a variety of commercial airlines, including: Portland Airways, United Airlines, Empire Airlines, Inland Airways, West Coast Airlines, Hughes Air West, Cascade Airways, Horizon Air, and Mountain West Airlines. “But as the planes have gotten larger, we are now down to Alaska Airlines, operated by Horizon Air,” says Skoglund. “We have daily service to and from Seattle, Washington. Our current schedule, depending on the time of year, is either two round trips, or three round trips, a day.” In addition, the Airport is also home to many non-aviation businesses. “We have quite a diverse industry out here at the Airport,” Skoglund reports. “We have about 80 businesses - everything from small mom-and-pop businesses all the way up to a large winery or a large manufacturing business. We lease out the old army airbase buildings. On landside, we are home to about 17 wineries, three breweries, and two distilleries. So, our Airport District, aka Business Park, is a very popular space, and there is definitely land on the aviation side to build. The Master Plan has identified areas and then, on the non-aviation side, there is also plenty of land to develop, where we can do long-term land leases.” Walla Walla Regional Airport has eight full-time employees, co-located with other Port of Walla Walla employees who provide administrative and accounting services. “We are fortunate to be port-owned,” Skoglund admits. “The Port