This change to Middle GA Regional Airport could bring bigger flights, new jobs to Macon
Middle Georgia Regional Airport will begin expanding their runway this week, providing more space for larger planes and incentivizing commercial flights to land in Macon.
The expansion began Tuesday and is scheduled to last until late 2024 or early 2025.
“By extending the runway we’ll be able to attract more business here, we’ll be able to support the businesses that currently exist. Aircraft taking off and arriving here at Middle Georgia will be able to do so without being penalized in terms of payloads,” said Macon-Bibb aviation director Doug Faour.
Faour said the airport wanted to expand for more than 40 years. The extended runway will make shipping larger materials easier and bring more business to the airport.
The expansion of the runway is also intended to encourage employees of the airport to stay in Macon, giving them the chance to expand markets thanks to larger planes and more flights to new locations. It could also draw new employees.
“This extension will provide so much opportunity for the growth at our airport and will make it more convenient for our current tenants,” Mayor Lester Miller said. “This is a project that has been in the works for many years and we are thrilled that it is finally happening.”
The expansion was first proposed in 2013 but had to go through FAA and GDOT approvals. The last step of the process came last year, when county commissioners approved the project and accepted $2 million from GDOT to complete it.
The project’s first phase won’t actually be building the extended runway but instead the construction of a retaining wall, which will go up on the south side of the airport near Sardis Church Road to make the extension possible.
The second phase begins after with the construction of the extension, which also includes building a safety measure called an Engineered Materials Arresting System. The EMAS is a section of crushed material put at the end of a runway that helps stop planes if they overrun the runway.
This story was originally published January 25, 2023 at 5:00 AM.