The Valdosta-Lowndes county airport authority recently received approval from the city council for two grants from the federal aviation administration along with an approved contract with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The Valdosta Regional Airport is receiving more than one million dollars for their expansion plan.
The plan includes creating a larger and more accessible airport for all Valdosta residents and visitors traveling to the area.
James Galloway, Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority Manager says they have already began some work using the funds.
“We did some things. like we put a new roof on the airline passenger terminal. We put a new air conditioning system in for the terminal and we painted some hangars. We’re happy to tackle some of these big ticket items that we weren’t able to do on our normal operating budget,” said Galloway.
The city is excited that the funds will also be able to help with larger projects like building a new control tower, a new general aviation terminal, and resurfacing the runways.
According to Galloway some of these structures are way past time for a remodel.
“Those are things that are decades old that we’ve been trying to fix. That terminal and tower were built in the 1940’s, so it’s well past it’s use by date,” said Galloway.
The hopes are that the airports expansion will attract more visitors and investors to come to Valdosta.
The runway resurfacing project alone is estimated to have a 12 million dollar economic impact on the city of Valdosta.
They plan on continuing the expansion project with other funds allocated throughout the next year.
https://wfxl.com/news/local/valdosta-regional-airport-planning-major-expansion