Work Begins on GA Improvements at Lebanon Airport

LEBANON, N.H. (AP) -- Lebanon Airport has broken ground on a project aimed at boosting revenue.

Planners broke ground Friday for a new ramp, apron and four hangars for corporate and private planes.

Lebanon Airport has been losing about $200,000 a year, and hopes the new construction will bring in increased revenue from leases, fuel and fees from aircraft based at the airport and fuel.

The companies that use the two corporate hangars will build and pay for their construction, airport officials said, then lease land beneath the hangars from the city.

"It will be a great boon to the local economy and certainly to our airport specifically," Airport Manager Steve Miller said.

The airport will build the other two hangars using a $900,000 bond, then pay it off with money from individuals and businesses that lease spots in the two hangars.

The hangars built by the airport are expected to bring in about $100,000 a year in revenue, while the land leases for the corporate hangars will generate about $35,000, said Jay D. Fitzgerald, airport operations supervisor.

In addition, every airplane based at the airport must pay a New Hampshire registration fee depending on the value of the aircraft, part of which goes to the airport. Also, fuel flow fees of 4 to 6 cents per gallon that fliers pay go to the airport. (A corporate jet uses nearly 50,000 gallons of fuel per year, generating some $2,500 in fuel flow fees.)

The airport has a yearly budget of about $800,000 and brings in about $600,000, said Miller.

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