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Tulsa Airport Trust Seeks to Develop Vacant Land

Posted on: Thursday, 13 October 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Julie Bisbee, The Daily Oklahoman

Oct. 13--A demand for ample hangar space and room to grow is prompting the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust to seek a developer to turn its vacant acres into a vibrant business cluster.

In addition to providing air service to Oklahoma business and leisure travelers, Tulsa International Airport employs more than 15,000 Oklahomans, and its industrial park provides an economic benefit of nearly $3.2 billion annually. More than 3 million people travel on the airport's almost 70 daily departing flights. Air cargo service also is available.

The trust is seeking a developer to make about 800 acres of land sandwiched between Tulsa International Airport and Mingo Road into a bustling aerospace cluster that includes offices, restaurants and manufacturing.

A drive down Mingo Road on the northwest side of Tulsa proves that aerospace and other manufacturing are keeping the area's economy rolling.

American Airlines Maintenance Center employs about 8,000, and Spirit Aerosystems has close to 1,000 people working on Boeing parts and airplanes just a few hundred feet away. Runway space is a premium for the companies that service jets and build parts for them. The demand is there and the development should follow, said Mary Smith, spokeswoman for the Tulsa Airport Authority.

This month the Tulsa Airport Improvement Trust approved a request for qualifications as part of its search for a developer for the area. Negotiations on the project are expected to begin in November. The developer that is awarded the contract will be charged with the task of coming up with a master plan for the area.

"For about the last year we've been hearing from our major tenants that they need space or they might have to go outside the Tulsa area or the state," Smith said. "They are saying (they) want office space as well."

City officials are hoping the proposed development would also include restaurants, dry cleaners and other amenities that workers need.

"This is truly an economic development endeavor," Smith said. "We are looking long-term to create an aerospace cluster that we can retain and grow it. We need a development that could support all the needs of an aerospace cluster. That means a little more manufacturing facilities and warehouses."

The short supply of hangar space comes as the aerospace industry is rebounding from the slump it experienced after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"We've had two or three years of growth, and we're occupying more space in support of that," said Joe Jarrett, controller for Spirit's aerostructures business unit. "We're pursuing third-party business, and one of the things they're concerned about is long-term adequate capacity."

American Airlines has been doing third-party work after streamlining its process to free up space and workers to do maintenance on jets owned by other airlines.

The growth in the aerospace industry underscores the need for increased space to keep companies. If companies outgrow their facilities and have no room to grow, they could take their jobs elsewhere, said Rene Witten, co-owner of Mingo Aerospace and chairwoman of the Aerospace Alliance of Tulsa.

"I'd hate to see it happen," Witten said. "But I do think there is a possibility of companies relocating."

In Oklahoma City, Commander Premier Aircraft Corp., left the city for Cape Girardeau, Mo., after it failed to find space in central Oklahoma. Owners of the Commander airplanes bought Commander Aircraft Co. out of bankruptcy, but the sale didn't include the lease on the manufacturing facility.

INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER CARRIERS

Tulsa International Airport's international passenger carriers include:

American

ASA

Champion

Comair

Continental

Delta

Frontier

Northwest

SkyWest

Southwest

United

CARGO CARRIERS

Tulsa International Airport is served by these cargo carriers:

Airborne Express

AA Cargo

Continental

Delta DASH

Menlo/Emery

FedEx

Southwest

UPS

U.S. Postal Service

DHL

--Tulsa Airport Authority Web site

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Daily Oklahoman

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CMDR, AMR, BA, 7661,

Source: The Daily Oklahoman

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