The Danville Regional Airport held a ribbon cutting on Wednesday to showcase the renovations at the airport terminal. The improvements included interior and exterior improvements that allow the airport to support larger passenger groups.
The improvements also include increased amenities for customers and pilots. Most of the renovations were paid for by state aviation funding from the Virginia Department of Aviation.
During the ceremony City Manager Ken Larking highlighted the importance of improving the airport.
“This is the welcome mat for a lot of people that come to our community,” said Larking, “we have visitors that come in for events that use this airport terminal that come through here and are greeted by our FBO and others and get to see a great first welcome to our community. Also, often we have economic development prospects who will come in that are thinking about investing in our community and when they come in this will be their first impression of Danville.”
Mayor Alonzo Jones discussed the economic investment the city has made in the airport and the impact the airport has on the economy.
“A well equipped and modern airport is a catalyst for our economic growth. It attracts businesses and encourages tourism. By investing in our airport we are investing in the economic prosperity in our community. In the past seven years more than $2 million has been invested in this terminal building,” said Jones.
Danville Airport Commission Chairman Phillip Hall discussed the increase in volume that the airport has seen in recent years, according to FlightAware.
“If you go to FlightAware and just take a random day in 2021, 2022, and 2023, over the last three years and pay attention to what the trends of landings and departures are at the Danville Airport. It’s trending up and it’s trending up significantly and some weeks as much as 68%,” said Hall.
The Danville Regional Airport also houses the Averett University aeronautics program. Currently there are 120 aeronautics students at Averett and the program could grow to upwards of 200 students with the current growth trajectory, according to Averett President Dr. Tiffany Franks. This past year Averett Aviation serviced 2,600 aircraft.
