ECP officials approve lease for new airport expansion

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - At a board meeting Wednesday morning, officials at Northwest Florida Beaches International airport made an announcement to expand. A lease amendment was approved for Southern Sky Aviation - a new fixed-base-operator, or FBO.

Right now, the only FBO at the airport is Sheltair Aviation.

FBO’s are private jet terminals, allowing aircrafts to operate a the airport and provide services such as fueling, parking, hangar space, and more. Officials said the expansion will help economic development in the area.

”This community does a great job promoting the beaches and so there’s increased tourism coming in and you also have increased industrial commitment, and so both of those things combined are increasing the traffic to this airport,” Southern Sky Aviation President Donald Howell said.

Officials said once construction plans are finalized, the real work can begin. If there are no delays, the project’s completion date will be December 2023.