Photo – Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics Executive Director Grayson Ardies led the Bartlesville Municipal Airport’s ribbon-cutting to celebrate the completion of the airport’s taxiway on Monday, Sept. 8. The airport also broke ground on the future 20,000-square-foot hangar project anticipated to be completed by summer 2026.
Officials with the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics (ODAA) and Bartlesville Municipal Airport recognized the completion of the northeastern Oklahoma airport’s taxiway project with a ribbon-cutting today. Following the ceremony, attendees broke ground along that same taxiway where a new hangar is intended to be built.
Bartlesville’s improvements were initially presented several years ago for project funding in the ODAA’s Airport Construction Program (ACP) given the state’s focus on pro-growth aviation infrastructure. The ACP is a five-year revolving plan the ODAA provides in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airport sponsors to support the combined goal of having a system of airports that serves the business, transportation, and commerce needs of communities across the state.
The project included construction of 1,300 linear feet of taxiway into a new hangar development area that will allow for dozens of new hangars to be built. The new taxiways extend east of the airport’s main parallel taxiway “A” and are located northeast of the terminal building. The taxiway construction was necessary to facilitate the airport’s plans for expanding their hangar development area. The cost of the taxiway project totaled a little more than $2 million. The ODAA provided almost $1.2 million, the FAA provided $737,000 and the City’s Airport Fund provided a little more than $100,000 to fund the project.
“With Bartlesville’s completed taxiway and upcoming hangar construction, we’re continuing to improve access to northeast Oklahoma,” said Grayson Ardies, ODAA executive director. “These upgrades are laying the foundation to ensure economic success in Bartlesville’s aviation industry and throughout the entire region. We’re ushering in commerce and welcoming investment with every improvement made to Oklahoma’s thriving airport system.”
The 20,000-square-foot hangar construction project will provide the opportunity to expand existing aviation businesses or recruit new aerospace industry to the airport. The hangar development is part of a statewide effort to increase aircraft storage facilities at airports across Oklahoma with a goal to increase aviation business activity. The project is expected to cost about $5.4 million; ODAA plans to cover $2.38 million while the Bartlesville Development Authority will provide a little more than $3 million.
“We’re thankful for the Oklahoma Legislature, the ODAA and the BDA for their continued support,” said Mike Richardson, Bartlesville airport director. “We’re excited to continue making these projects possible and seeing where this growth will take us in the future.”
A contract with Koehn Construction Services for the hangar construction was approved by the Bartlesville City Council in early August 2025. The project construction could officially start as soon as fall 2025 and be completed by the summer of 2026.
“We’re very proud of the progress and upcoming plans made here at Bartlesville Municipal,” said Chris Batchelder, BDA vice president of Business Development. “It’s more than fresh pavement and a new building. It represents additions to the workforce here at the airport and at surrounding businesses that support airport employees and outside businesses that travel into Bartlesville.”
Bartlesville Municipal Airport sits on about 430 acres in northwest Bartlesville within the Osage County line, about three miles west of the city’s downtown area. The public airport features a concrete runway that measures 6,850 feet long by 100 feet wide. Open 24/7 for aircraft takeoffs and landings, the property hosts a Fixed-Base Operator to provide a full range of services to both transient and local business including aircraft fueling, towing, hangar storage, flight crew vehicles, restrooms, passenger and flight crew lounge areas, weather and flight planning. Bartlesville Municipal Airport is home base to around 50 aircraft and sees about 12,000 takeoffs and landings annually.
