Chattanooga Airport officials today purchased the operations of general aviation competitor TAC Air for $12.37 million.

The Airport Authority agreed to the issuance of $10 million in revenue bonds, which will be coupled with Lovell Field funds to finance the deal for privately held TAC Air’s extensive hangar and office space.

Dan Jacobson, Airport Authority chairman, said the deal is in the best interest of the city, Hamilton County and the region.

The airport and TAC Air have been in a long-running dispute related to general aviation services at the airport. Nearly four years ago, airport officials agreed to spend about $10 million to construct their own general aviation terminal and hangar space on the airport’s west side.

Those facilities, which compete with TAC Air, are managed by Wilson Air Service of Memphis.