Building your own airport is an often-heard aviation goal that is achieved more often than you might imagine. Of the more than 19,000 airports listed in the U.S., more than 14,000 are privately owned.
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To build an airport costs USD 30 million per 3 km runaway, as well as USD 500 per square meter (SQM) for an airport passenger terminal.
Margins on operating such airports are varied, but thin. Owners can draw rents from flight schools, airport brokerages, and cargo companies that set up onsite, and as with commercial airports, landing and parking fees are levied on planes. The rec room and waiting area also incur charges.
Based on data from the ACI Airport Economics Survey, 97% of airports that have fewer than one million passengers operated at a loss in 2019. The propensity to reach profitability increases with airport size thereafter.
More than 40 percent of hub airports' revenues involved passenger-related activities, such as terminal concessions, parking, and ground transportation. For large hub airports specifically, another 40 percent, including landing fees and terminal rents, came from passenger airlines (Exhibit 1).
The FAA designates private airfields as “Restricted, Private Use” airports. Yet, many owners allow other pilots to use them. Some think a better term would be “Conditional Use” because other pilots may use the airfield if certain conditions are met. Some owners want to be called and asked first.
Private airports can also be airports that are owned and operated by private individuals and are not open to anyone but those who own them. However, access to a private airport is not completely out of the question if you have the pre-approval of the owner or operator of that airport.
Bigger Airports have more competition, which drives prices down. at bigger airports/hubs the airline often has their own check in/ground handling staff as well engineers/maintenance, whereas as at small/non-hub airports those things are often sub contracted, which is more expensive for the airline.
And a runway need not take a great deal of space on a property. An acre is 43,560 square feet so a 2,000-by-75-foot field takes only about 3.5 acres. Runway construction on cleared land is mostly a process of leveling with a tractor and a box blade.
Typically, it requires more than five years to complete these eight steps for a simple general aviation airport. More complex airport configurations or environmentally sensitive sites require more time for development.
The only privately owned airport in the United States with commercial airline service is Branson Airport in Branson, Missouri. While a few airlines have flown to Branson at various times, currently the only airline there is Frontier. There are many privately-owned airports for small general aviation aircraft.
In the US, almost all major airports are government-owned – usually by the local federal or city government. In New York, for example, JFK and La Guardia airports are owned by the City of New York. Newark is owned by the cities of Newark and Elizabeth.
Most US commercial service airports are typically owned by local or state governments, either directly or through an authority (a quasi-governmental body established to operate the airport), says Airlines for America (A4A), a body recognised by US Congress and all government bodies.
Building a 5,000-by-75-foot runway and accompanying ramp and taxiway that can accommodate a large-cabin business jet can cost $10 million or more in a colder climate once you factor in surveying, permitting, engineering, marking, designing a GPS instrument approach, and installation of lighting, a fuel farm, and a ...
This study estimates the market value of 31 large and medium U.S. airports as $131 billion in total, including Los Angeles International ($17.8 billion), San Francisco International ($11.9 billion), and Dallas/Ft. Worth International ($11.9 billion).
Airports are locally owned and operated.All but one U.S. commercial airport are owned and operated by public entities, including local, regional or state authorities with the power to issue bonds to finance some of their capital needs.