Driven by a powerful desire to never find itself or its customers in that predicament, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) recently invested $4.5 million to increase onsite fuel reserves by up to 60%.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic eased, travelers started surging back in record numbers to George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston. In 2023, the Texas airfield handled more than 46 million passengers—a 12.7% increase from 2022. And traffic this year is expected to easily top that.
Truckee Tahoe Airport (TRK) in California recently made a bold environmental move by changing from standard Jet A to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The general aviation airport started offering SAF several years ago, with a goal of gradually increasing the percentage sold to 100% by the end of 2023. However, airport officials decided to accelerate the process and completed the transition by June instead.
Leaders at Sedona Airport (SEZ) in Arizona knew they were on the clock to build a new fuel farm. The decades-old facility at SEZ had a hard time keeping up with customer demand. And, even worse, the fuel tanks themselves were rapidly deteriorating. A long-term solution was needed in the near term.
When St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) opened its new $50 million jet fuel storage facility and updated hydrant system in August 2021, the project was widely acclaimed. After all, it doubled the airport's fuel storage capacity to 3 million gallons, added the latest technology and made fueling operations at STL more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Three years ago, officials at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) had a big challenge that needed to be addressed relatively quickly. The South Carolina airport had an ever-increasing demand for fuel, and its existing storage tanks could no longer meet that demand.
Nueces County Airport (RBO), is a small general aviation airport located in Robstown, TX - about 30 miles west of Corpus Christi and the Gulf of Mexico. RBO doesn't have to deal with snow or ice. However, occasional hurricanes and tropical storms coming off the Gulf do pose a real threat.
Prior to a $4 billion facelift recently completed by LaGuardia Gateway Partners, Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) was known for taxiway traffic jams and delays. The terminal's new island concourse layout has helped alleviate many of those issues. Further enhancing those efficiencies is a new hydrant fueling system that will allow aircraft to fuel at each of the terminal's 35 gates and eliminate the need for tank truck refueling and its associated traffic.
A $5.6 million project to upgrade fuel farm infrastructure at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT) in Kansas was completed this summer without any disruption to operations. The project included phased repairs and upgrades to six 25,000-gallon underground tanks that store jet fuel as well as other system improvements.
A 3.5-mile pipeline snaking beneath the streets of Las Vegas is the final component of a multi-phase fuel system project at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), formerly known as McCarran International. The roughly $70 million initiative, funded entirely by the local fuel consortium, dates back to the early 2000s, when Clark County Department of Aviation began looking for ways to expand storage and throughput of the system that feeds aviation fuel to LAS and four smaller airports that serve Southern Nevada.
When it's time to update or replace an aging jet fuel facility, financing can be a big challenge. At Tucson International Airport (TUS), the local airline consortium worked with airport officials and an outside engineering consulting firm to find a creative way to ensure a steady fuel supply for all airport users.
In early May, Centennial Airport (APA) in Englewood, CO, became that state's first airport to offer unleaded aviation gas for piston-engine aircraft. The active general aviation facility is even offsetting associated costs for early adopters who buy the more expensive eco-friendly alternative.
