Greenwood Indiana Airport Marketing to Corporations
Greenwood started making upgrades to their airport in 2012 when they extended the runway threshold so larger aircraft can use the airport. An impact study also done in 2012 showed the airport brought $27.3 million worth of economic enhancement to the community. This airport is the closest one to downtown Indianapolis, so has always had a large amount of traffic, but the City Council decided to up the ante recently.
In January 2016, two new incentive programs were put in place for those bringing planes, no matter the size, into the airport. First, there are no landing or parking fees for planes now. Second, those using the airport to park their planes can get in on a deal where they get to establish and keep a set price for fuel for a certain timeframe.
Greenwood’s plan seems to be working, fuel bought is up by 50% over the previous year in the first few months, and they are now seeing double or more the number of operations – landings and take-offs. Those numbers are up so high, they average over 80 of them each day now.
They’ve added some amenities like a quiet room for pilots so they can rest after a flight. They also have plans to build larger corporate hangars soon. They are doing this because the city knows that people flying into the airport doesn’t just affect the six business and 40 workers at the airport, but are designed to bring more businesses to the area as well as other travelers. As new businesses open offices there, then the economy will grow and bring more work to those already living there.
Chris Anderson, chief pilot for Sky Lodge Air, said, “Greenwood Airport’s announcement to offer contract fuel and eliminate landing fees is a welcome change, This allows our company to save a significant amount of money, meaning we can continue to reinvest and grow our company in the Indianapolis area and across the country.”
All of this seems like good news for corporations with private jets and Greenwood, but with the economy still gaining ground ever so slowly, there could be negative implications for those who have and use private jets.
