- April 19, 2024
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Updated 9:19 a.m. July 31
Director Roy Sieger announced recently that the Flagler Executive Airport has secured another $9 million in grants — and he even chipped in 24 cents.
The projects, which include rehabilitation of Runway 6-24 (“The last piece of asphalt we need to do,” he said) were funded through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation, but rounding did result in being a few pennies short here and there.
The construction contracts to spend the grants are on the Aug. 3 agenda for the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners.
In his 12th year leading the airport, Sieger said this makes $50 million total in grants secured.
The airport is also getting a general aviation terminal, he said on July 24’s “Free For All Friday” on WNZF. It will be a 15,000-square-foot facility, hardened to be available as an emergency operations center as well; in the past, Florida Power and Light has staged at the airport after hurricanes, he said.
“Free For All” host David Ayres said the terminal was good news. He joked: “It would be nice, now that we’re an ‘executive airport,’ to look more 'executive.'”
“When this thing gets built, there will be no doubt where the FBO is,” Sieger said, referring to the “fixed-base operator,” or the terminal.
The pandemic caused a “very bad month” at the airport in March, but since then, fuel sales have been up. Flight training has continued as normal.
The Freedom Fest, one of Flagler’s biggest annual events, has been canceled for November. It could be rescheduled for next April, if the conditions of the pandemic allow for it. In that case, it could attract some of the military planes that used to go to the balloon festival in New Smyrna Beach. If April doesn’t work, the next Freedom Fest will be planned for November 2021.
