28 Jul 2023

(Coos County, OR) – The completion of an aircraft parking and storage apron signals the start of other projects that will benefit general aviation and other services provided at the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport. Apron expansion is already helping to meet transient and business aircraft parking and storage demands during the peak travel season at the airport.

Aprons, also known as ramps, provide areas for maneuvering aircraft to and from the taxiway system. They also support air carrier operations for aircraft and support vehicles, and supply ramp areas for conducting flight line services such as fueling and towing. The apron also allows based aircraft to be tied down and stored.

The Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, business leaders, and community members helped celebrate the project’s recent completion with a ribbon-cutting. Airport Project Consultant, Rick Skinner says the $6.6-million-dollar project had its challenges such as relocating existing utilities without disrupting services to the airfield and Air Traffic Control Tower. 4,500 yards of high-strength concrete (7,000 psi) was poured. That added strength will allow the concrete to support more weight and handle the south coast winds and weather. The added space creates more clearance around aircraft that are parked on the ramp.

Coos Aviation is the Fixed Base Operator at the airport and provides general aviation services and aircraft fueling. Line service personnel worked near the demolition and construction area for nearly 10 months until the project was completed and security fencing was installed.  Area Manager, Jason Traylor says the ramp expansion is a significant upgrade and is already appreciated by those line service personnel and general aviation customers.

The apron added a 160-thousand-square-foot area to four already existing ramps. It is one of the first steps necessary leading up to the construction of a cargo and cold storage facility. That work will begin in 2024.

CCAD owns and operates the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport, which consists of 619 landside and airside acres. It leases over 33 commercial facilities, and combined with those tenants, employs over 600 personnel. The airport is critical to the state’s aviation plan that links to the Oregon Transportation Plan, a long-range vision and policy foundation to guide transportation system development and investment.