December 27, 2012 — Metro Aviation Services manager David Taylor checks on the readiness of a plane before its departure. The Olive Branch facility has an average of 230 takeoffs and landings occurring each day, down from the pre-recession average of 315. The recession hit air traffic at the airport but business is looking up.
(Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)
December 27, 2012 — Derrick Hill moves a Piper Malibu Mirage closer to the Metro Aviation Services terminal for refueling before its departure. The Olive Branch airport has seen an increase in air traffic during 2012. Construction of a control tower in 2005 was aimed partly at driving up corporate traffic, which now accounts for about 30 percent of the air traffic at Olive Branch.
(Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)
Olive Branch airport has seen its ups and downs.
The recession hit air traffic at the 6,000-foot runway, and the number of takeoffs and landings still haven't reached peak, but business is looking up.
Private air traffic is still lagging — "the little guys can't afford it," said airport manager David Taylor — but corporate traffic has increased.
An average of 230 takeoffs and landings occur each day. Before the recession, the regional airport recorded an average of 315 takeoffs and landings a day.
Flight training traffic is what is driving the numbers, said airport manager David Taylor. Training traffic accounts for 50 percent of the activity.
Grant Bales, chief instructor at Air Venture, said the flight school is busy because it's working with a foreign government to train pilots to acquire that country's multi-engine rating for employment there. Twenty more students are expected within a month after passing a rigorous U.S. State Department background check.
"We have a steady flow of student pilots," Bales said. "We're busy here."
The runway is considered of national importance. The Federal Aviation Administration identifies the Olive Branch airport on the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems.
The designation means the airport is considered significant to national air transportation. It is within 30 miles of a major metropolitan airport (Memphis) and, with a long enough airstrip, could be used as an alternative landing site.
The airport's status has apparently increased in the corporate world, too, since there's been an increase of use by that segment. About 30 percent of the air traffic at Olive Branch is driven by corporate jets.
"Olive Branch is very strategically located," said Bales, who has "been around this airport since it was built."
Construction of a control tower in 2005 was aimed partly at driving up corporate traffic. About the same time, however, a flight school closed and fuel costs rose.
The airport saw more difficulties as the economy later soured, taking average takeoffs and landing on a dive, to 170 a day.
The airport manager, the longest serving in the state with 28 years, said he's seen the airport ride the high and low waves. He predicts good days ahead.
"It's poised and ready to grow again," Taylor said.
Story and Photos: http://www.commercialappeal.com
Olive Branch (KOLV), Mississippi: http://www.airnav.com/KOLV
No comments:
Post a Comment