Business View Magazine | May 2019

144 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 “We just completed a $5.5 million commercial apron expansion this past summer,” Booth adds. “And, right now, we’re in the planning stage with our engineers and the FAA to start another terminal expansion project. We’re going to add space and improve flow in our terminal by expanding our secure area on the back side of TSA and adding a gate, back there. And then, we’re going to reconfigure our ticketing area to add additional ticketing work space and improve access to some of our bag belts. That’s going to happen this year. We also submitted for a terminal expansion project that dovetails with that one. If we get that, it’ll mean two additional gates, beyond the one that we’re going to do in 2019; so that will take us through 2020 and 2021.” Yampa Valley Airport has one FBO, Atlantic Aviation, which is planning to break ground soon on a new facility. “Essentially, they’re going to dislocate from where they are now, which is right next to our commercial terminal, and they’re building their own apron and terminal facility for their customers on the eastern side of the Airport,” Booth explains. “They’re going to more than double their ramp space; they’re going to have a brand new GA executive jet terminal that will be architecturally designed to fit a beautiful mountain resort like ours. By the end of October, we’re going to have a brand new GA executive jet facility run by one of the best FBOs in the country.” Should the Airport ever need to expand its footprint, Booth reports that there are about 50 acres inside its security and wildlife fence that can be developed. “And then, we have about 250 acres that the county owns, that if we re-fenced and rerouted one particular dirt county road on the east side of the Airport where the FBO is moving to, we could expand that end, easily, to accommodate those acres.” The Yampa Valley Airport is, in fact, owned by Routt County as an enterprise operation, and it is expected to be self-sufficient, without relying on the county’s general fund for its operational budget. It is also a seasonal airport, whose busy period generally extends from mid-December to the end of March, or early April, depending