Gettysburg Airport in Pa. Changes Owners

The Gettysburg Airport was sold Friday to the operators of Harrisburg International Airport for $1.4 million.

The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority, which runs Harrisburg International, Capital City and Franklin County airports, will now run the 48-acre Gettysburg Airport as well.

Former owner Clyde Bachert put the property up for sale in September for $2.3 million.

"It allows an airport to stay open that provides aviation transportation access into that very important part of the state," said Tim Edwards, deputy executive director of the authority. "Adams County doesn't have another airport."

The deal is part of an effort by the Federal Aviation Administration to purchase and preserve small, regional airports.

The FAA will now reimburse the authority for 95 percent of the cost. The state agreed to pay 2.5 percent and the authority will pay the remaining 2.5 percent.

Edwards said the authority will now shut down and inspect the airport to inspect fuel systems and make sure other parts of the facility are up to code. The authority will also work on a "master plan" to determine what improvements should be made to the airport, he said.

Those improvements could include more hangars, ramp space or the addition of a parallel "taxiway," Edwards said. But it is still too early to determine what kind of work will be done on facility, he said.

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