Cheraw Municipal Airport manager Wendell Hall said the facility will not host an air show this June.
“This year we are going to skip it,” said Hall. “We kind of want to get it set up on an every-other-year deal.”
Hall said the airport had an air show in both 2014 and 2013, but will take a break this year from putting on the shows, which he said take a considerable amount of time and effort.
“If you do it every year, people get burned out,” Hall said.
Although there will be no air show this year, the CherawMunicipal Airport is still seeing plenty of activity.
Many local residents drive past the airport every day, but some may not know what a vital role the facility plays in the community.
“There are a lot of county and city-owned airports around that don’t get real good support,” said Hall. “The town supports the airport here really good because they understand how about it is for local business.”
Hall said the presence of a functioning airport is one of the deciding factors for any business or industry that might consider coming to the area. Because businesses such as INA and Highland Industries use the airport to transport parts and equipment to and from their facilities here in Chesterfield County, as well as to fly in executives, the airport plays a large, though unseen, role in the local economy.
“Probably almost every month, there is a freight plane coming to pick up freight,” Hall said. “We unload and offload it for them. We provide fuel for them and service.
“That’s a direct relation to servicing the local industry, because the airport is a really really vital link to industry.”
In addition to serving industry, the Cheraw Municipal Airport also serves local aviation enthusiasts.
“We have some local guys that own some airplanes locally that fly a little bit out of here,” Hall said.
Although Hall works as a contractor for the city to manage the airport, the majority of his income comes from HallAviation — a separate, on-site entity.
“Our money is made through aircraft maintenance,” Hall said. “We kind of manage the airport part-time since we are out here anyhow.
“We are a self contained business that happens to be operating on the airport, so the airport is beneficial to us obviously to fly planes in and out.”
http://www.thecherawchronicle.com/news/home_top-news/152197838/Airport-a-hub-for-industry