9:00 A.M. THURSDAY UPDATE: Champion Aviation, the Fixed Base Operator at Gainesville’s Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport, says while it did have “a few additional aircraft because of the game (it was) nothing substantial.”
ORIGINAL STORY. POSTED AT 7:00 A.M. THURSDAY:
The Barrow County Airport saw a record number of aircraft last weekend because of the University of Georgia’s home game Saturday against Texas.
County officials say the airport saw 73 aircraft, including 53 jets, 14 turboprops and six piston engine planes, come through the airport between Friday and Sunday, with officials opting to close the airport’s shorter runway to accommodate parking the aircraft passing through.
“We typically see about four large jets coming to the Barrow County Airport during a calendar year,” said Stoney Bangert, Barrow County Airport Manager. “But this weekend alone, we had eight large jets, along with 65 other aircraft at our facility. We estimate that there was close to $1 billion worth of airplanes on the ground at one point.”
At one point during the weekend, Athens’ Ben Epps Field announced that because of the increase in traffic there it was diverting incoming aircraft to other airports in the area.
Meanwhile, back in Winder, WDR, Inc., the fixed base operator at the Barrow County facility, which provides aircraft fuel and maintenance, reported no issues – no aircraft breakdowns, damage to aircraft or other incidents.
“Romanair has operated at this airport since 1985, and we can say with full confidence that this was the busiest 48 hours in our company’s history,” said Drew Mancini, President of Romanair. “Our initial estimates said we would have about 30-35 aircraft coming in for the game, but even with that number more than doubling throughout the weekend, the team at the Barrow County Airport handled it flawlessly.”
The weekend concluded with Gov. Brian Kemp departing from the airport, closing out what is believed to be the busiest weekend in the airport’s history.
“This really was a team effort,” said Bangert. “I cannot speak highly enough of our continued partnership with Romanair and everyone who works so hard to make the Barrow County Airport a great place to fly.”