At its Tuesday meeting, the airport board unanimously approved a land-lease agreement and  an FBO franchise agreement with Skywerx Aviation Inc. to operate the airport for the city.

Skywerx will build a hangar and business office on the land it leases at the airport.

“I think it’s a big step forward,” Rod  Storm, city administrator and airport manager said. “You’re going to have somebody out there now occupying the airport on a full-time basis.”

The land lease  is for 20 years with two 5-year extension options.

The land lease calls for an annual payment of 6.8 cents per square foot of land Skywerx ends up using. The FBO agreement provides a 12-cent fee per gallon of fuel sold.

Storm said having someone at the airport definitely should boost fuel sales.

“It’s going to effectively help increase traffic and with expanded services available at the airport, it adds to the potential to be able to sell more fuel as we go along and hopefully attract more companies out there,” he said.

Storm said an FBO also will allow the Blair Airport to better compete with other airports in the area for traffic and business. As an example, Storm said some businesses with aircraft like to call ahead and have their plane fueled and cleaned and ready to go when they arrive at the airport in order to save time. Without an FBO that has not been possible at the Blair Airport.

 At the Airport Authority meeting on Tuesday, Bob Joyce, general manager of Skywerx, said his company plans to make the airport “something the city and the airport authority can be proud of.”

He said his company is committed to providing services that will attract more traffic to the airport.

Geary Combs, chairman of the Blair Airport Authority, summed up the potential impact of the new FBO agreement in just a few words at the Tuesday meeting.

“It’s a big step,” he said.

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SkyWerx, which signed a 25-year lease with the city of Blair earlier this year to be the fixed-base operator at the airport, was seeing signs of growth even before it moved into its new hangar/office at the airport a couple of weeks ago.

“The best way to look at it is the four turboprop or jet airplanes that have come to this airport as a direct consequence of our arrival, and there’s more in the hopper,” Babcock said. Another brand new corporate jet arrived at the airport last weekend.

“City fathers were very wise, in my opinion, by investing money as they have in this runway and this airport,” Babcock said.

A fixed-base operator basically maintains a presence at the airport to “provide a place for people to bring their ship into port, as it were,” Babcock said. Those services include providing fuel for the planes and a location for the people to relax on their arrival or before their departure from the airport.

“We provide a place for all this to happen, both a place for airplanes and people, if you will,” Back added.

SkyWerx also works with people who are interested in purchasing aircraft.

“We help acquire and operate their aircraft and help provide the appropriate crew members to fly them and make sure they are maintained and make sure (the aircraft) have a safe place to spend the evening when they are not out flying,” Babcock said.

“That’s pretty much what we do around here,” said Yolanda Hauder, who owns SkyWerx along with her husband, Tim. “Whatever needs to be done, we all do it.”

“We’re trying to become a destination for travelers, both people coming to do business in Blair and the Omaha metro area,” Babcock said.

“I think the theory of build it and they will come will happen here,” said Hauder.

“It is happening here,” Babcock added.

A new hangar is under construction beside the new SkyWerx facility and should be completed in February, said Rod Storm, Blair city administrator and airport manager. It is intended to house larger aircraft such as turboprops or small jets.

A big advantage for the Blair Airport, Babcock said, is location, location, location. It is less than 15 minutes from downtown Blair and from Omaha, which makes it attractive to many travelers.

“What we’re going to try to do is capitalize on the strategic location this airport will have,” he added.

Along with Hauder and Babcock, the SkyWerx staff includes office manager Tristan Gustafson and receptionist Samantha Kremke. In addition, the company has two charter pilots and one in training.

SkyWerx has partnered with Charter First Air Travel Specialists, based in Marshall, Minn., for charter flights.

“They have a sterling reputation and they have been around for a long, long time (more than 45 years),” Babcock said.

Babcock said two infrastructure improvements – the widening of Highway 133 and lengthening of the airport runway to 5,500 feet – will put the airport in an ideal situation.

“Transportation infrastructure is what drives the economy and airport transportation infrastructure is a critical element of that, as is surface road transportation,” he said. “And when you have the commonality of those two things coming together and meeting they way they are in this location, the limitations of potential are probably only as limited as your imagination.”

“I really think the city fathers did a great job,” Babcock said. “It took people with vision and foresight to be able to come up with this.”

© 2013 Washington County Enterprise and Pilot Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SkyWerx is building a 90-foot-by-140-foot hangar/office complex at the airport and expects to have it operational by Labor Day.

Earlier this year, SkyWerx entered into an agreement with the Blair Airport Authority to provide services at the airport for 20 years, with an option for a five-year extension.

Joyce said SkyWerx will focus on two missions at the Blair Airport.

“No. 1 is to serve as a gateway for Blair and for Washington County,” Joyce said. “General aviation is a tremendous tool to help recruit and retain business, so we think our ability to provide first-class general aviation air services to the business and medical community will be a big plus.”

The second focus for SkyWerx will be for the airport to serve as a reliever airport for Eppley Airfield in Omaha. He said the location is “ideal” for most people.

© 2013 Washington County Enterprise and Pilot Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.