by Malcolm Butler
The Ruston Regional Airport is in the midst of the first of two separate construction projects.
The current construction project is for expansion of the apron by the Tech Flight Operations where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded, or maintained, as well as additional hangar access taxilane.
This is an advance of the second project which calls for an additional set of T-hangars, which are used to store aircraft. This will double the current space from 10 T-hangars to 20 T-hangars.
Both projects are fully funded through grants by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Louisiana Department of Transportation Aviation Division.
“This will give Ruston Regional Airport more hangar space for people who need the space to store their plane inside,” said John Freeman, City of Ruston Construction Projects Supervisor. “Currently, our existing T-hangar space is full, and I know we have a waiting list. So this will give us the ability to add 10 more storage hangars for planes in the future.”
Freeman said the timeline for the current project is February of 2025 and he believes the second project will also be completed sometime during the 2025 calendar.
“It all depends on the FAA and grants, and their cycles for getting that paperwork completed,” said Freeman.
Back in August during the Ruston City Council meeting, the aldermen approved a bid of $1,087,253.74 from 3 Gen Construction LLC for the first project.
