The new general aviation terminal at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport is under construction in this July 9, 2011 file photo.
General aviation flightsWhen Chattanooga airport officials mulled the building of a new general aviation terminal, they traveled to more than a half dozen facilities in the Southeast to find out what worked and why.
“We asked pilots and people who worked there what’s important to the customer,” said Mike Landguth, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport’s chief executive.
The result is going up on Lovell Field’s west side where a $5 million terminal, hangar and fuel farm – part of one of the largest investments in new facilities at the airport in decades – is to open in late summer.
General aviation generally involves activity other than scheduled commercial airline service and regular cargo flights. It ranges from flying for business and personal reasons to the delivery of emergency medical services and pilot training.
Airport officials said the new terminal, and fixed base operator Wilson Air Center, will provide competition to existing FBO Tac Air and its facilities on the opposite side of the runway and better help the city contend for businesses.