Charter And Specialized Flights Are Future For MidAmerica Airport
Details Of Passenger Service Expected In March
MultiAero, Inc. And AVMATS
MidAmerica Airport, Illinois (February 25, 2002) -- Companies like MultiAero, Inc. and AVMATS are the immediate future of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, said St. Clair County Administrator Dan Maher.
Last week the St. Clair County Public Building Commission approved a lease with MultiAero, a Festus, Mo. based company that offers cargo service and passenger flights throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.
MultiAero is expecting to offer four scheduled flights a week to Chicago's Midway Airport, and to announce details of its MidAmerica operations at a press conference in March.
In November, the county approved a lease with Chesterfield, Mo. based Aviation Material and Technical Support, or AVMATS. The Chesterfield company sells and leases corporate aircraft, maintains and repairs them, installs aircraft interiors, offers corporate charter service and maintains and overhauls aircraft parts and engines.
AVMATS President Butch Giessman has said construction of a ramp and taxiway connecting the airport's runway to its hangar should be complete in August. The hangar must be completed within a year of construction of the ramp and taxiway.
"Where you're going to see the most growth out of the airport is industrial, charter and specialized travel service," Maher said. Cargo service could be another possible source of airport growth, he said.
In the immediate future, commercial airline service may not be a source of growth for the airport, Maher said. In December, Pan American Airways stopped service at the airport, and Maher said problems in the airline industry mean it could be a while before commercial airline service returns.
"It's just hard to tell when you'll get a regular airline in there doing business, given what's going on today," he said.
Still, one industry analyst said the arrival of MultiAero means good things for the airport.
"I think it will lead to other things -- bigger and better things," said Juli Niemann, an airline industry analyst at R.T. Jones Capital Equities in St. Louis.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
DAVID VAN DEN BERG Article © the Belleville News-Democrat
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