{"id":26031,"date":"2023-07-01T15:28:48","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T15:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=26031"},"modified":"2023-07-03T20:52:57","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T20:52:57","slug":"ribbon-cutting-held-for-gallatin-county-regional-airport-commonwealths-58th-ga-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/kentucky\/ribbon-cutting-held-for-gallatin-county-regional-airport-commonwealths-58th-ga-airport\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Ribbon Cutting Held for Gallatin County Regional Airport, Kentucky\u2019s 58th GA Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo above – from left are, KDA Deputy Commissioner, Brad Schwandt, Rep. Savannah Maddox Dist. 61, FAA’s Tommy Dupree, Commonwealth of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Judge Exec Ryan Morris, Gallatin Co, Sen. Gex Williams Dist 20, KDA Commissioner Mark Carter, NBAA Rep Alex Gertsen, Greg Mitchell NURCOR Steel \u2013 Gallatin LLC and KDA Engineer, Wayne Simpson. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gov. Andy Beshear accompanied federal, state and local\nofficials for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kentucky\u2019s newest and 58th General\nAviation airport, the Gallatin County Regional Airport in Sparta. The airport\ncloses a logistical gap for aircraft users in the area while boosting economic\ndevelopment, emergency services and tourism in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an amazing milestone for Gallatin County and\nNorthern Kentucky, more than 20 years in the making. Today, we showed everyone\nthat when we work together as Team Kentucky, we get big things done,\u201d Gov.\nBeshear said. \u201cThis airport is going to support our booming economy, promote\ntourism in this region and provide a new site for emergency responders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Gallatin County Regional Airport will be the first\ngeneral aviation airport to serve the I-71 corridor between Louisville and\nCincinnati. The non-commercial airport features a 5,000-foot by 75-foot concrete\nrunway with a full parallel taxiway and apron. The $44 million project received\n$18 million in state funding, $25.5 million in federal funding and $55,500 from\nthe county.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airport is near the Kentucky Speedway, home to\nmotorsports racing and events, and is expected to boost economic development in\nthis growing region by offering a convenient location to land and take off. In\nattendance at the ribbon-cutting were local executives from Nucor Steel Gallatin,\nwho plan to use the airport for corporate travel to their nearby mill used to\nproduce sheet steel for automotive, appliance, construction, pipe and other\nindustrial and consumer products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Governor said he also expects the new airport to host future\nflight-training and aviation maintenance classes in partnership with community\ncolleges. This will assist in statewide efforts to address the nationwide pilot\nand aircraft mechanic shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Aviation (KDA) Commissioner Mark Carter credits federal, state and local official collaboration to complete this long-awaited project that has stretched more than 20 years. More enhancements are planned at the airport, including a state-funded terminal building and fuel system that will open in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday\u2019s opening of the Gallatin County Regional Airport\nrepresents the culmination of nearly two decades of work from Gallatin County\nleaders, consultants, contractors and the Kentucky Department of Aviation. We\nare thrilled to be a part of this historic effort to see the project through to\nthe finish line,\u201d said Commissioner Carter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallatin County Regional Airport is expected to be a home\nbase airport for over 20 aircraft and host approximately 13,000 takeoffs\nannually. The airport will be funded using revenue from jet fuel sales, hangar\nrental fees and fuel excise tax returns, among other federal, local and state\nproject funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airport is managed by the Gallatin County Regional\nAirport Board of Directors. Gallatin County Judge\/Executive Ryan Morris\ncurrently serves as the airport manager handling day-to-day operations, like\nclosure alerts to pilots and routine communications with the Federal Aviation\nAdministration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m beyond excited to see planes finally land in Gallatin\nCounty,\u201d said Judge Morris. \u201cOur county supports four major modes of\ntransportation: rail, roadways, waterways and now aviation. The sky is the\nlimit regarding the opportunities this opens up for our region, and we\u2019re proud\nto offer travelers more ways to get to Gallatin County.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith half of Nucor\u2019s steel across all of its mills going\ninto the non-residential construction market, we know firsthand the value of\ninfrastructure projects like this general aviation airport opening today,\u201d said\nGreg Mitchell of Nucor Steel Gallatin. \u201cNot only are we incredibly excited to\nstart utilizing this facility to help our business, but we cannot wait to see\nthe impact it will have on the economy of this region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kentucky Aviation Association (KAA), a nonprofit that\npromotes aviation facilities, safety, education and business in Kentucky,\ncongratulated the state on the latest airport, which not only meets business\nneeds but supports the future aviation workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKentucky is a multi-modal state, and investing in aviation\nis a smart choice to ensure we remain competitive to attract recreational and\nbusiness travelers,\u201d said KAA President Paul Steely. \u201cIt\u2019s always exciting to\nsee a new airport open, and its presence will provide valuable services, as\nwell as training opportunities to support the next generation of aviators and\nmechanics.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above – from left are, KDA Deputy Commissioner, Brad Schwandt, Rep. Savannah Maddox Dist. 61, FAA’s Tommy Dupree, Commonwealth of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Judge Exec Ryan Morris, Gallatin Co, Sen. Gex Williams Dist 20, KDA Commissioner Mark Carter, NBAA Rep Alex Gertsen, Greg Mitchell NURCOR Steel \u2013 Gallatin LLC and KDA Engineer, Wayne […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-kentucky"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ribbon-Cutting-Action-Shot-edit-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26031"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26052,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26031\/revisions\/26052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}