The city of Arlington will acquire the Arlington Municipal Airport’s fixed base operator, a move that officials say will create revenue to develop the airport as it takes on more traffic.
Arlington City Council unanimously approved the $17 million acquisition Tuesday of Harrison Aviation and GKY Realty property as Harrison Aviation’s owner prepares to leave the business.
The acquisition will add $78 million in benefits to the city over the next 20 years, on top of an expected $236 million economic impact from the reliever airport just south of Interstate 20. The city will own and operate the fixed base operator, which generally provides services including fueling, maintenance and concierge services to all airports.
Officials told the city council that the new revenue source could fund much-anticipated development needs, especially on the airport’s west side.
Jennifer Wichmann, deputy city manager, said the airport is in most need of development across 34 acres in the airport’s west side and additional aircraft parking spaces.
“It’s going to need a lot of infrastructure and other elements to connect it and set it up so we can bring in the right tenants and right prospects and companies to come in and operate there,” she said.
The city split costs with the Arlington Economic Development Corporation, which contributed $9.5 million to the acquisition. The city paid $7.5 million from gas revenue from the airport and proceeds from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation.
Arlington City Council will vote on the airport’s fuel contract and ordinances establishing fees in future city council meetings. The city will fully transition to take over fixed base operator responsibilities by April 1, according to the city.
The acquisition is part of $68.5 million in investments planned in and around the airport. Other planned investments include an air taxi terminal and hangar, the extension of MLK Jr. Drive and additional parking.
Expansions would benefit Arlington’s industrial manufacturing sector, as well as increasing demand for travel for entertainment district events.
“Particularly on days our entertainment district is really activated, they really have to work hard to figure out where to stack all those airplanes with all these people coming in and wanting to fly into our airport and then attend events there,” Wichmann said.
Arlington Municipal Airport gained national status in late 2022.
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