Business Indiana, Friday, January 31, 2020 — 5
Airport a key asset with potential for growth
these companies. We have hangar space available for helicopters, and a helicopter dolly that the helicopter can land on and then it’s pushed into a hangar.” One addition the county and airport officials would like to see is a charter service. “I get calls every week from people who ask about flights to other airports, such as Pittsburgh,” Fuellner said. Indiana County Airport Au- thority board member Ron Anderson said the airport had a small commuter serv- ice several years ago, but it didn’t last very long. “It would be great to have a charter service available at the airport in the future,” he said. “Right now, we’re work- ing on a master plan with an engineering firm and state Continued from Page 4
regulators, and in that plan will be an upgrading of the runway to strengthen it.” Strengthening the runway involves increasing the thick- ness of the asphalt. “Once the runway is strengthened, we’ll be in good shape to get heavier planes in,” he said. Fuellner said there are many obstacles to gaining approval for charter flights, but he feels it would be worth the effort: “Even if we ended up being a secondary stop, where they are based out of Latrobe or Johnstown, for example, and if we had five passengers, they could stop and pick them up and take themon to Pittsburgh.” In addition to the compa- nies that use the airport, the facility provides several addi- tional services. Each June, the Jimmy Stewart Airport
Festival attracts thousands of people and features visiting aircraft, often including WorldWar II vintage military planes for hands-on educa- tion opportunities, aerial tours of the Indiana area, food and crafts. “We already have our line- up for the 2020 Jimmy Stew- art Festival, andwe’re doing a salute to veterans in Septem- ber, with estimates that more than 10,000 people will be at- tending,” Fuellner said. “Between the opportuni- ties provided by the busi- nesses in the area and the university,” Fuellner said, “I think the airport will become evenmore important to Indi- ana in the next few years.” The opinion is shared by Rep. Struzzi. “That airport is key to our economic future,” he said.
KYLEE SURIKE /Gazette THE AREA’S original airport opened May 11, 1929, as the privately owned Hamilton Field in a clearing about two miles east of Indiana Borough. A new field was opened in 1949 about a mile north of Hamilton Field and was operated by Indiana Borough. The airport was sold to the county in 1957 and was declared a public facility on Sept. 18, 1959.
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