Manassas airport’s commercialization process advances, but 1st flights still not expected until 2027

Manassas Regional Airport s plan to become the region s newest commercial-service airport has taken another step forward but its debut has been pushed to spring airport bureaucrats described the Manassas City Council Monday night Marc Ricks CEO of Avports the private developer leading the transformation revealed the airport continues to make progress toward commercial operations but several certifications and assessments must still be completed Agreements with airlines have still yet to be determined In the City Council approved a -year lease giving Avports particular rights to manage commercial facility at the city-owned airport known as HEF The original timeline projected commercial flights as early as but construction delays on taxiway bridges and a redesign of a runway bridge moved that estimate to Ricks now expects the first flights in April or May Ricks praised the airport for receiving a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration confirming HEF has met key standards to transition from a general-aviation field to a passenger-service airport It s really an extraordinary accomplishment Ricks reported The FAA does not issue these certificates on anything approaching a regular basis The airport is at present undergoing an environmental assessment to evaluate likely impacts from the expansion Ricks reported the project represents a major infrastructure upgrade for the Washington Baltimore region and fills a gap in commercial air provision availability When we think about the Manassas airport we think of it as an opportunity not to build something that will rival BWI Dulles or Reagan Ricks mentioned but one that can accommodate sphere access for new carriers Ricks advised councilmembers the D C metro area lags behind other major regions in commercial airport options You should expect to see us launch the airport with one or at the bulk two airlines he disclosed And then once air provision demand is proven I think we can see other airlines follow Ricks commented the new terminal aims to offer convenience uncommon at larger airports with a projected curb to gate time of to minutes When we think about the convenience of this airport it s about its proximity to where people live but also the speed with which people can move from their car to the gate that we think is going to be extremely attractive he noted Councilmember Tom Osina raised questions about the new air traffic control tower planned for the southwest side of the airport Airport Director Juan Rivera mentioned the tower design is complete and should be finished in January Construction we hope depending on FAA funding to hopefully get started sometime in early about the same time that the airline operation will be cranking up Rivera mentioned Construction of the tower is expected to take about months once it begins Rivera reported the new facility will include a simulator to train air traffic controllers and encouragement modern procedures This is going to be a tower that is going to be lasting us into the future Rivera added It s going to have a simulator in it so that the air traffic control folks can learn more about a few of the newer air traffic controls Controllers will be able to come to Manassas and in fact utilize the simulator So a lot better than what we have now The Manassas Regional Airport Commission is also considering changing the airport s name after a request from one of its fixed-base operators The commission discussed the proposal during its Nov meeting and agreed to explore the idea Specific name recommendations have not been made The airport is also known as Harry P Davis Field Source