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Attendees of an open house last week at Kissimmee City Hall review Kissimmee Gateway Airport’s master plan for the next 20 years. PHOTO/TERRY LLOYD
Kissimmee Airport revealed the results of a months-long master plan process at an open house last week.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires public airports to complete the process periodically to determine what additions and improvements are realistic over the next 20 years. This current planning process incorporates the entirety of the airport property and provides for three likely scenarios on how the airport can continue to develop. Shaun Germolus, the city’s Director of Aviation, summed up the process.
“The master plan update is reviewing existing airport conditions and determining the best way to meet future demands,” he said. “Two areas of interest are the increasing population of aircraft owners moving to our area, and the closing of the former golf course providing land development opportunities.”
Kissimmee City Manager Mike Steigerwald also highlighted the opportunities available for airport property off Hoagland Boulevard.
“Having that whole southwest quadrant available for long-range planning enables us to prepare for uses needed in the next 10 to 20 years, or even longer,” he said.
Recognizing the coming trend of Urban Air Mobility, one scenario dedicates a section of the airport for a vertiport facility, to take advantage of light vertical short takeoff and landing aircraft, possibly automated or remotely controlled and electric powered. German aviation company Lilium, collaborating with the City of Orlando and Tavistock Development Company, is developing a vertiport in the Lake Nona area.
Another feature of the plan is a potential site for a convenience store at the intersection of the recently realigned Hoagland Boulevard and Jack Calhoun Drive. Any revenue for use of airport property, given over to the city at the end of World War II by the federal government, must be spent on airport uses. Allowing for a diversified variety of uses helps to ensure the airport can continue to operate without any cost to local taxpayers.
“The property is being considered for possible construction of aircraft manufacturing facilities, aviation businesses, and additional aircraft storage. These developments will significantly boost our local economy enhancing local material sales and job creation,” Germolus said.
A 2019 Florida Department of Transportation Statewide Aviation Economic Impact Study showed the airport’s total economic benefit to the community at $190 million, which sustained over 1,500 jobs.
According to the airport’s website, aircraft manufacturer Cirrus Aircraft opened a maintenance and management location at the airport, and aviation company Mach 1 broke ground on construction of a large hanger, both within the past year.
Some portions of the property, which was developed in the 1940s as Kissimmee Army Airfield, do not connect to the airfield and can be used for non-aviation facilities such are warehouse, distribution and manufacturing.
The open house also attracted students from the Florida Institute of Technology, who received extra credit for their airport planning course from their instructor, Jordan Poole, for attending Thursday evening. Poole also works for an aviation planning and engineering firm in Orlando.
For more information on the Kissimmee Airport go to https://www.fly kissimmee.com/.
