After millions of dollars in yearslong infrastructure upgrades, Hampton Roads Executive Airport now plans to attract startups in aircraft innovation and alternative fuels with its latest development.
“Aviation is a cornerstone of growth for any region,” owner Steve Fox said.
Although the 634-acre facility at the intersection of four major highways — Interstates 64, 664 and 264 and U.S. 58 — had its share of hardships in the past, it continues to soar and act as a gateway to Hampton Roads. The bulk of the public-use, privately owned reliever airport, known by the code KPVG, is in Chesapeake with a portion of its western side just over the Suffolk line.
Dating back to the 1940s, the facility was originally called Portsmouth Airport. It was started by Capt. Henry Pascale, a World War I veteran eager to provide a place for flying lessons for other service members returning home. After a rocky start, Pascale saved the airport from foreclosure. At the time, it consisted of about 200 acres, three grass runways and gravel roads.
More than 60 years later, three pilot businessmen, Steve Fox, Jack Fox and David “Andy” Gibbs, stepped in to purchase the airport in 2000 from a bankruptcy auction.
“It included 13 buildings, an old terminal, an old runway and 90 T-hangars — pretty much everything was at least 20 years old or older,” Fox said.
The following year, they bought an additional 404 acres for construction of a new runway and future development of the airport.
Today, Steve Fox and his wife, Bee, retired city attorney for Virginia Beach, are the majority owners of Virginia Aviation Associates, which owns the airport. The Foxes’ son, Luke, serves as the airport’s director of finance and managing engineer. Fox bought out his father, Jack Fox. Gibbs, the airport’s former helicopter instructor, died in 2013.
“I’m the last man standing from the original three owners,” said Steve Fox, a third-generation pilot whose grandfather, Martin Fox, was a pilot in World War I. “It was in the stars, I guess.”
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Revamping for jets
Fox explained that when he purchased the airport, there were three detriments: the condition of the buildings, its 4,000-foot runway and the lack of an instrument landing system. Insurance companies generally require turbine-powered aircraft, or jets, to operate on a 5,000-foot runway.
Eager to improve the airport, its capabilities and amenities, Fox learned about grant funding from the Virginia Department of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration’s capital improvement program, both geared to help with privately owned airports. The FAA has supported the airport’s growth with more than $30 million in grants.
“One of the conditions is that we have to keep the airport open forever,” he said.
The first phase in the redevelopment, completed in 2015, included the construction of the 5,350-foot-long, 100-foot-wide runway. The price tag for that alone was $30 million, Fox said.
The new runway sits parallel to the original 4,000-foot-long, 75-foot-wide main runway that was lengthened and repaved and became the new taxiway. Both runways were equipped with new lighting.
Phase one included construction of a new 6,800-square-foot public use terminal with a lounge/lobby, 20-seat conference room, pilot lounge with a nap room, kitchenette, office space, concierge, crew cars and covered vehicle porch. The revamp included the installation of a dozen more hangars, connecting the airport to the public sewer system and adding high-speed internet. These projects cost another $25 million. The state aviation department provided a $500,000 grant for the instrument landing system.
“Any jet, up to the size of a Gulfstream business jet, can land here in any weather condition because we have a proper length runway and an instrument landing system,” he said.
Phase two addressed the need for more and newer hangars. The airport expanded from 13 to 37 buildings ranging from 4,000 to 40,000 square feet. The $10 million project included a second fuel farm and an aircraft washing station.
Welcoming new technology
Phase three started this month to add more than $10 million in infrastructure improvements over the next 18 months, Fox said. The project involves the construction of a 36,000-square-foot combined jetport and research and training center, new aprons, three large buildings, hangars and electric-charging stations for new electric aircraft, Fox said.
The state aviation board awarded the project a $6.5 million grant, the airport said.
The center will enable different companies — startups from around the world — to test alternative fuels and alternative fueled aircraft right here in Hampton Roads. Fox said in the past 24 years of owning the airport, he has not seen the amount of investment and focus on new aircraft that he has seen in the last two years.
“Innovation in both aircraft design and alternate fuel sourcing is flourishing,” he said. “The public will be excited to know that the cost of flying should come down significantly as the new technology emerges.”
Phase four will bring down nine of the original 13 T-hangars still standing, and phase five will address development of 200 acres of raw surplus land for future use by aircraft manufacturers, Fox said.
Regional transportation hub
The ambition of the airport is high for a staff of 13. The airport, with 160 planes based there, sees close to 90,000 operations yearly.
Throughout the years, it’s had countless notable arrivals and departures from its property, including President Joe Biden and Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Ambulance helicopters also use the airport regularly.
“Our facility is not about rich people with jets; our facility is servicing people in need, both financial and medical and fostering increased employment,” Fox said.
More than 30 businesses are based at the airport, including Prevailance Aerospace, Hampton Roads Charter Service and Hampton Roads Helicopters. Dave Hynes has been a part of operating the last two businesses from a large complex at the airport since their inception in 2005. Gibbs was his business partner.
Hynes said the expansion and growth at the airport has been beneficial for both of his businesses — whether providing management, hangaring and piloting services, teaching people how to fly helicopters or providing tours or photo mission flights.
“It’s helped us grow the businesses, helped us to be able to employ more employees and be able to contribute more into the local economy because we’re growing and expanding as the airport is growing and expanding, too,” Hynes said.
Another area of growth involves the roadway just outside the airport.
“The blessing of the airport is that we’re on U.S. 58 right at the intersection of four highways,” Fox said. “The curse is that we’re on U.S. 58 right at the intersection of four highways.”
Both Fox and Hynes are anxiously awaiting better traffic flow now that $14 million to improve intersection access to the airport from U.S. 58 was approved, with work starting in 2026.
“Our vision of converting Hampton Roads Executive Airport’s 80-year-old barnstormer airfield into a modern executive regional transportation hub continues with this next phase of development,” Fox said.