Tahlequah Airport Upgrades will be Better for Tourism, Business

Aug. 20—Upgrades and updates are nearly completed at the city airport, but officials said there are more projects on the horizon.

Tahlequah City Municipal Airport Manager Kelly Crittenden said this work was part of the Airport Improvement Program.

"We're finishing up remodeling the terminal building, we got a new floor and new roof and we're getting ready to get new furniture," said Crittenden. "As far as our grant projects, we finished our taxiway lighting and sign project from last year."

The taxiway used to be unlit, and Crittenden said pilots who are not from the area could only see a "black hole."

"You could before, but when you got off the runway, you could hardly see and could tell where the taxiways were," he said.

The city airport has 63 based aircraft and a 5,000-foot runway that accommodates almost all light jet traffic. The taxiway lighting system will make it easier for pilots to maneuver after they land.

The 24-hour facility is featured with a 5,001-foot runway, a quiet room for layovers by corporate pilots, visitors' lounge, private hangers, flight planning and training room, and ADA restrooms.

The AIP is a U.S. federal grant program that provides funds to public airports to help improve safety and efficiency. Crittenden said the grant was around $20,000 for the building, and about $800,000 on the lighting system and signage for the runway.

"We're going to rehabilitate the asphalt, and in the future, they're going to replace the runway lights with LED lights. That's coming in a couple of years," said Crittenden.

The lights are pilot-controlled, allowing them to click on their radio mics about seven times, which turns on the lights along the taxiway.

The AIP grant was 100 percent funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission.

While the airport brings in visitors for tourism and pilot practice, it also serves as a relief outlet for Tulsa and Fayetteville, Arkansas. Although it's a rare occurrence, when those planes experience an emergency, they are diverted to Tahlequah.

Crittenden said there's been a significant decrease in traffic due to COVID-19, and cancellation of the Red Fern Festival plus changes to the annual Cherokee National Holiday had a major impact.

"What I'm going to try to do when we get back to normal is have a plan in conjunction with Red Fern and the National Holiday. People will fly into the airport and we'll give them shuttle service to the festivals, so it brings people in that wouldn't normally come in," he said.

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