The newly built terminal will have a grand opening on May 6 with a public open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May, 7. When the new terminal opens, the one currently in use will close.

Dave Decker, Public Works director, presented the airport’s budget request during Tuesday’s council work session.

Major services at the airport include:

• General Aviation (including corporate)
• Flight Schools (Private, UVU)
• Air Traffic Control Tower
• MRO (Maintenance Repair Operation – Duncan Aviation)
• TACAir
• Commercial Service/Terminal Operations
• Other
• Alpine Air, Lifeflight, UVU Emergency Services

Included in Decker’s requests for the airport are suggested fee changes. Those proposed changes include:

• Parking — from $8 to $10 a day.
• Landing Fees for airlines — from $0.65 to $0.97 per 1,000 pounds landed weight for all aircraft over 12,500 pounds.
• Terminal Fees — from $0.75 to $1.83 per enplaned passenger
• Office Space Lease — New $20 per square foot per year
• Fuel Flowage Fee — from $0.08 to $0.05 for air carriers and $0.08 for non-air carriers
• Ground Lease Fee — from $0.45 to $0.55 per square foot per year
• Hangar Rent — 25% increase
• Remain Over Night (RON Fee) — New $50 per night
• Rental Car Concessions Fee — from $50 per stall per month to 10% of gross revenue plus $20 per stall per month
• Retail Concession Fee – New 5% of gross revenue

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

Security for the airport has been added to the police department’s budget. They are requesting two new officers specifically for the airport in fiscal year 2023 — required by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Other needs include software for the new terminal, utility fee increases and four-and-a-half full-time positions — a director, document manager, maintenance manager and security manager. Half of the wildlife biologist salary will be paid for by the city. The biologist will help maintain the wetlands and wildlife around the airport.

Decker also announced that the airport will be its own division within Public Works.

Another needed acquisition is additional snow removal equipment and, in the future, a storage facility to house the equipment.

In answering some of the council’s concerns about where the money comes from, Decker said, “The CARES Act has money specific to the airport and is one of the funding sources that allows for the snow removal equipment.”

Courtesy Provo city

Other funding sources include: FAA, $23.4 million; State of Utah, $9 million; Mountainland Association of Governments, $14 million; Utah County, $4.3 million; Provo city, $3.7 million.

Decker told the council they should start anticipating the need for more employees for the airport now, before the need is immediate, to manage growth over the next decade.

There is also a need for more hangars at the airport to store private and corporate planes. Private owners have been making these requests for quite some time, but there are infrastructure concerns standing in the way.

“Utility expansion to the airport is slowing the building of extra hangars,” Decker said

The current terminal has one gate, but the new terminal will offer four gates but has been built to expand to 10 gates as needed.