Airport upgrades continue

City officials have sky-high hopes for future improvements at Mustang Beach Airport.

Facilities at the airport could expand significantly with agreements reached not long ago between the City of Port Aransas and the Texas General Land Office.

The Port Aransas City Council in September voted to approve signing a newly renegotiated lease with the GLO to increase the size of the airport. The lease also gives the city new powers to work with private partners to add amenities that a survey has shown pilots desire.

With the new lease, the airport property will expand to include 23.2 more acres.

The added acreage could be where new airport hangars and other development would occur under a partnership between the city and an airport development business, if a contract between the two is signed.

In December, the airport replaced much of its fueling system with updated equipment. Also late last year, additional tie-down spots were built for aircraft.

The airport has AWOS, an automatic weather service for pilots that will give local weather with a phone call, and a navigation system that’s almost as good as the high-dollar Instrument Landing System used by commercial airports. The new system will let fliers navigate to within 265 feet of the ground in cloudy or rainy weather; previously they could only legally descend to within 1,500 feet off the ground in inclement weather.

That’s important to people who might contemplate flying to Port Aransas for a vacation or for a weekend, because they can now leave Dallas or San Antonio and come directly to Port Aransas.

The city and the aviation division of the Texas Department of Transportation have partnered to provide an additional $300,000 in paving and drainage improvements to increase transient aircraft parking over the last three years.

The city also plans to obtain additional state and federal funds to triple its annual grant funding for the airport, with the help of matching funds.

Additions that are in the planning stage include new hangars and taxiway improvements.