By Susan Orr | Indianapolis Business Journal
MT. COMFORT — Local aviation company Aero Management Group has acquired the leasehold rights to Indianapolis Regional Airport and is planning numerous capital improvements and the addition of charter service.
The airport in Mt. Comfort is one of several general aviation airports owned by the Indianapolis Airport Authority, which also owns and operates Indianapolis International Airport.
Aero, based in Greenfield, acquired the leasehold rights at the regional airport by purchasing another local company, Indy Jet.
Indy Jet held the leasehold right to serve as the airport’s fixed base operator — the entity that runs the airport and offers services including fueling, aircraft maintenance, flight training and more. With the acquisition, Aero now owns those leasehold rights and is the airport’s fixed base operator.
The Indy Jet acquisition closed Dec. 31. Aero declined to disclose financial terms of the deal.
Aero plans a makeover to the airport’s exterior and upgrades to landscaping, carpeting, paint and woodwork. The improvements should be complete by the end of next quarter.
“It will be a completely new look, and a significant investment on our part,” said Aero CEO and owner, Quinn Ricker, the former president and CEO of Ricker Oil Co.
Ricker said Aero is also planning to introduce on-demand air charter service at the airport through Jet Access Aviation, a Palm Beach, Florida-based company in which Aero owns a 50% stake.
Aero has seven other airport aviation service locations in four states and a charter certificate with 46 jets managed and/or chartered on behalf of clients. The company said it planned to rebrand its private jet and aviation business to Jet Access to align it with its charter business.
The change comes as the airport continues a two-year process updating its master plan to keep up with its growth. The airport has more than doubled the annual amount of fuel it has sold in the past decade and gone from a handful of aircraft based there to more than 20. It has also doubled the amount of hangars over the past several years and added a maintenance shop for Cessna Citation jets.
The update will include studies analyzing the airport’s facilities and infrastructure, community outreach and an evaluation of the airport and the role it plays in the national airport system. It will also address ways to reduce environmental impacts and determine future construction projects, which may include an air traffic control tower and runway extensions.
The airport received a $166,666 grant form the Federal Aviation Administration to assist with the master plan update last year.
Mitchell Kirk of the Daily Reporter staff contributed to this story.
