The Economic Engine of the Region

 An airport that fuels growth and extends its runway to open up international options

Flying high through 2025 with the runway clear for further aviation growth to take off, Indianapolis Executive Airport is enjoying its position as an aviation hub. This dynamic airport has also pivoted to become a burgeoning epicenter for increased international flights to take off from its impressive 7,000-foot extended runway.

With its eye firmly on what is needed to be done to encourage its global reach while ensuring a seamless, friendly, and welcoming passenger experience, Indianapolis Executive Airport is also an airport that is well-positioned to set itself apart from its aviation competitors.

Samuel Sachs, Indianapolis Executive Airport Director, describes the airport as “a general aviation airport, specifically a national level general aviation airport which is very busy operationally.”

“We definitely have a large focus on business and corporate aviation which is our niche. We do somewhere around 115 operations a day at the airport, 30 of those are our business aviation operations.”

Sachs points out that Indianapolis Executive Airport also carries out a good amount of piston operations, flight school training, and private general aviation business. The key however to the airport’s success over the last few years is its business aviation readiness and to soon have the capacity to become a full-scale international arrivals and departure airport.

 Landing business growth in the region

“Business aviation has been growing fast here and right now we are number two in the state of Indiana in that category,” Sachs relays.

Drawing the link between the airport’s expertise in catering to business travelers and the region’s emerging status as a business destination, Sach points out that the business traffic landing at the busy airport is critical to the region’s economic growth.

“We are owned and operated by Hamilton County. The county sees the airport as an economic engine and economic driver for the region.”

“So much of our traffic is also transient traffic; businesses coming in from out of state that are doing business in the Indianapolis region that utilize our airport as a launching ground for doing their business.

Illustrating the airport’s business aviation strength, Sachs points to the north side of the city of Indianapolis where there has been a spike in residential and industrial growth spawning many new developments.

“Along the Interstate 65 which is called the LEAP district, similar to a tech alley, you see a lot of chip makers and manufacturers. Eli Lilly is building a large facility there.”

“Then to the east of the airport we have a lot of growth and development in Hamilton County which is considered one of the fastest-growing counties in the country,” Sachs adds.

As Sachs illustrates, the airport serves as a gateway where flights coming in mesh with the business expansion seen throughout the county.

“We are definitely a product of our location here. We are just in such a perfect little spot to capture all of that and it all converges here at the airport,” Sachs expands.

 Extending the runway to pave the way internationally

With so much potential in the region to expand within different key sectors, and the airport serving as the spoke in the transit wheel to make it happen, Sachs admits that Indianapolis Executive Airport has worked hard over the last little while to ensure its services make the grade.

“We have been playing catch up and trying to grow to meet the demand. We extended our runway in 2023 from 5500 feet to 7000 feet. This has been great for us.

“The runway extension has allowed us a lot more fuel sales for us internally as we see larger aircraft; Gulfstream and Global Express size general aviation aircraft,” Sachs explains.

Now that the airport can boast a 7,000-foot runway, flights can now fly further afield. The airport has seen a distinct increase in the number of flights taking off for international destinations including Europe.

“Our international departures out of the airport have gone up tremendously. Now we do about 150 international flights out of the airport every year which puts us in the number three spot in Indiana.”

“It’s our next frontier,” he states. So much so that Sachs has explored the potential to grow its international services to include possessing the capacity to welcome international flights landing at the airport as well.

“It has been a hot topic over the last year or so in terms of how best to capture international travel. We know that we have international flights already, but we can not bring in arrivals because we don’t have a customs facility yet. We do have, however, the departures to meet that demand,” Sachs outlines.

The airport is now, Sachs offers, going through the process of establishing a customs facility on its grounds with construction on the building expected to begin this summer. Sachs predicts the construction to be completed by the following summer, and at that point, he will set his sights on working closely with US Customs and Border Protection to staff the facility on a full-time basis.

“We see it [international arrivals and departures with US Customs operations at the airport] as a way of attracting even more business.”

“We have a new hangar that is going to be under construction here in just a few months and part of that hangar we are actually building,” Sachs continues.

“The annex onto that hangar is intended to be the customs facility. Customs have already had site visits to the airport, and we are in close communication with them because they know the numbers.”

 Airport business growth

It isn’t just the county and areas throughout Indianapolis that are seeing business booming, Sachs draws attention to the business potential for aviation and non-aviation business on the airport grounds.

With revenue up and impressive fuel sales, Sachs has turned his attention to attracting businesses to the airport.

“We have a large corporate partner, Beck’s Hybrid Seeds and they have soon to be two large hangars here at the airport but we still have a decent amount of land that can be developed for corporate aviation.”

“The airport has a corporate taxiway which is an area off the west side of the airport with the intention of bringing in corporate partners. We also have three different plots of land around the taxiway that could be developed for an interested party.

Sachs notes that he has the land available and is currently in conversations with several companies, one of which has a right of first refusal for one of the plots of land.

“We are looking for any kind of aviation-related business and don’t pigeonhole ourselves. We have even had conversations with aircraft manufacturing companies.”

 Flying ahead

With everything that is taking place at an impressive speed at Indianapolis Executive Airport, Sachs has not neglected to devote time to help with workforce challenges within the industry. He points to regular school tours of airport facilities to help generate youth interest in aviation, as well as the airport’s connections with leading aviation training programs and colleges in the area.

“We have Purdue University down the road, which is the epicenter for aviation across the country, and we have Indiana State University and Western Michigan University just across state lines.”

Beyond workforce development initiatives, Sach’s is looking forward to preparations for the proposed custom facilities at the airport. He will also focus on ensuring the airport remains a catalyst for continued business growth. In addition, Sachs will focus energies on other infrastructure projects needed in and around the airport grounds.

“We are lucky in Central Indiana to be an aviation hub of the world,” he concludes.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Indianapolis Executive Airport

What: Leading commercial and GA airport focused on becoming an international arrivals and departures destination and business catalyst for the region

Where: Indianapolis, Indiana

Website: www.indyexec.com