COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of The Dispatch and Braden Simmons

The Columbus-Lowndes County Airport recently announced that the culmination of a $3+ million expansion will soon officially open for business, in the form of a 9,600-sq-ft hangar that has been added to the facility. Their runway was also recently repaved, and a weather station will be coming soon, as well: “The weather station is going to be a great tool,” Operator Dan Duston said. “… If (pilots are) in the air and they need to divert … they can pull up our airport’s weather from the cockpit and see it in real time.” This will be able to offer pilots localized data on the current conditions; until it is complete, they will continue to use the weather system at GTR Regional.

The hangar itself will provide safe shelter for a number of aircraft in inclement weather, which will hopefully encourage owners of small jet aircraft to reserve space there: “We’ve had a demand off and on for jets that’s passing through … and a lot of these people don’t want their multi-million dollar aircraft sitting out on a ramp in a hail storm, and so we can put it in there (and) keep it safe,” he said.

Much of the funding for current and future improvements along these lines comes from government grants.

“There’s an old saying that you build a mile highway and it takes you a mile, but you build a mile runway, and it takes you to the world,” Duston said. “… It’s a tool. It’s infrastructure. It’s transportation. … There is a positive economic impact that comes from having this airport.”

Please click here for the original article: https://cdispatch.com/news/with-new-hangar-and-revamped-runway-complete-columbus-lowndes-airport-looks-to-continue-expanding/