Vail Valley Jet Center unveils improvements to terminal
Special to the Daily |
GYPSUM — The Vail Valley Jet Center, the main general aviation service provider at the Eagle County Regional Airport, recently announced major improvements to its facilities and capabilities that are sure to keep the jet center ranked among the top general aviation service companies in the country.
The upgrades include:
• A solar-powered hangar. In 2015, the jet center built a 28,000 square-foot corporate-style hangar with 2,000 square feet of office space and illuminated with the latest LED lighting. With the help of Eagle County, the Federal Aviation Administration and Active Energies, the jet center was able to add solar panels to the hangar this fall, which generated 44 kilowatts of power, making it completely powered by the sun.
“This is the first, hopefully of many, green construction projects for the jet center, and the synergies of LED lighting and solar electricity production have thus far demonstrated fantastic energy savings,” Vail Valley Jet Center CFO Debra Geddes said.
• Remodeling the passenger terminal. Also this year, the jet center completely remodeled its passenger lobby and restrooms to greet the approximately 100,000 guests that are expected to travel through the private terminal. In addition to new marble counter tops, furniture, paintings, carpeting and paint, the jet center has a state of the art cappuccino machine, complimentary snack bar and vintage popcorn machine. Also included in the remodel was an expansion of the jet center’s gift shop, which offers pilot supplies, GoPro digital cameras and skiing supplies for guests.
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‘busier than ever’
The mountains are already off to a great start to the ski season, with the Colorado River Basin’s snow pack exceeding 107 percent of the historic average.
“With Beaver Creek opening record amounts of terrain over Thanksgiving we were busier than ever at the airport,” said Allissa Hollis, customer relations manager at the Vail Valley Jet Center.
Last ski season, the airport experienced record traffic with 323 aircraft operations in a single day. This year, the airport is poised for even greater traffic.
“With the (Christmas and New Year’s) holidays falling on Fridays, this ski season we are anticipating a huge influx of airport traffic the weekend after Christmas and the weekend after New Year’s,” Vail Valley Jet Center CEO Paul Gordon said. “We could easily have over 900 aircraft operations over a two-day period on Jan. 2 and 3, and that will culminate in the biggest record travel days that the airport has ever experienced. We are certainly looking forward to our best ski season ever.”
