Renovation work continues on “taxiway delta” as part of a multimillion-dollar investment in the newly renamed Flagler Executive Airport.
PALM COAST — With sky-climbing Cessnas buzzing overhead and bulldozers rumbling in the distance, about a dozen private planes sat silently atop the tarmac's revamped blacktop at Flagler County's lone airport.
The tarmac was overhauled last summer — a sign of things to come, county leaders contend. It's one of several upgrades in recent years tied to an ongoing multimillion-dollar rebranding effort officials hope will take the airport to new heights.
The 1,100-acre facility recently got a new moniker as well. The County Commission voted unanimously last week to rename the Flagler County Airport to Flagler Executive Airport as they continue working to reshape the airport's image.
“Changing the name is a culmination of many things,” Commissioner Nate McLaughlin said. “I think that building this into the airport that it is has been the goal of the County Commission for many years. What's happening here is not new, it's just a culmination of the dream.”
Part of that dream is to wipe away notions of the airport's rustic past, which dates back to when Flagler was a rural county with fewer than 20,000 residents. Built on the grounds of a former World War II Naval air station, airport administrators said recent renovations address outdated runways, terminals and taxi ways originally constructed in the 1940s, among other things.
Now, with the airport situated in the heart of a burgeoning county with a population that recently topped 100,000, according to the latest U.S. Census figures, airport officials want to finally shed the facility's rural veneer.
The recent name change, approved during the County Commission's April 20 meeting, came about five months after county officials voted to change the airport's Federal Aviation Administration designation from XFL to FIN. The “X” in the three-letter identifier marked the airport as a rural landing zone. County airport officials chose the FIN designation, seeing it as more fitting for a modern Florida facility.
Airport administrators and county commissioners contend the new name and reclassification are important steps to help ensure pilots and those in the aviation industry will no longer associate the airport with being rural. Airport director Roy Seiger has served as architect of the facility's modernization since taking over as its director six years ago. So far, he's implemented more than $22 million in projects and improvements, which include a new level-one air traffic control tower erected four years ago that operates 365 days a year, according to county documents.
The overhaul also features enhanced runway safety areas, a revamping of one of the two land-based runways, as well as a new hangar and ramp designed for corporate aircraft.
County officials said the recent moves are geared toward appealing to corporate clients and high-level executives who charter private flights.
Flagler's aircraft operations have hovered around 190,000 takeoffs and landings for several years, buoyed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautic University's captain training program, which operates out of the airport. In 2013, more than 195,000 aircraft passed through the airport, making its contract tower the third-busiest in the nation, county documents show. The 2013 Flagler County Annual Report states the airport accounts for about $120 million in impact to the local economy each year.
Tripp Wacker began using the Flagler flight grounds in the mid-1980s when he relocated to the area. He founded Ryan Aviation Seaplanes at the airport in 1989 and has watched the facility grow from a pilot's view, as well as that of a business owner. He noted the new “executive” name makes the airport sound more credible and will likely attract pilots who can choose between a bevy of local, regional and international airports in the region.
“Perception becomes reality,” Wacker said. “So although we are growing by leaps and bounds — we have more services, more availability and more capability than Ormond Municipal Airport — at the Flagler County Airport , it doesn't sound that way. So we wanted to change that.”
County officials also hope the improvements will help to lure businesses to set up shop on the airport grounds. The Florida Army National Guard established a base inside a former training hangar in January, and Delta Engineering moved onto the grounds earlier this year. County commissioners in 2013 voted to lease a 14,000-square-foot corporate office to Aveo Engineering, an international company that manufactures LED lights for aircraft. Aveo was expected to break ground on a manufacturing facility this year but company officials were unavailable for comment.
McLaughlin pointed to multiple ongoing projects, which include plans to build an industrial park at the south end of the airport grounds, replete with businesses along the strip and a 1.4-mile access road connecting the park to an entrance off Belle Terre Parkway.
“When the airport grows and the businesses with it grow, Flagler County's economy grows with it,” Wacker said. “So it's a gateway into our county from many aspects. Not only just people flying in, but for bringing commerce and people to spend their money in Flagler County.”
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