WOODS CROSS — After being closed for several weeks for some much-needed repairs to the old runway, Skypark Airport is now open.
Steve Durtschi, manager of Skypark Airport, said seeing the first plane land on the new runway Thursday was a moment he may never forget.
"There's a lot of excitement to open the airport back up and put it into service," he said.
Workers put in new lights and new stripes, but the main reason the airport had to close was because the old runway was in need of repair.
"This has been a long time coming," Durtschi said. "Our runway was in such bad shape, it would have been gone in a couple years. The runway was certainly usable, but it was starting to crumble."
With the aid of state funds, Skypark spent $1.2 million to redo the runway to accommodate the location's increasing traffic.
The state has several reasons to hold interest in repairing Skypark Airport, a private-run facility. According to Pat Morley, Utah director of aeronautics, with nearly 200 aircraft based at Skypark, it's the fourth-busiest airport in Utah in terms of based aircraft. All of those planes and helicopters bring money to the state.
"Collecting aircraft fuel tax on all these aircraft, burning fuel and aircraft registration fees is what helps to pay for this," Morley said.
Having Salt Lake City International Airport close by, Skypark helps alleviate some of its traffic, Durtschi said.
"It makes it great for them," he said. "It relieves a little bit of the traffic congestion so they can work more with the big jets, then we can handle these smaller aircrafts."
Durtschi said traffic has doubled at Skypark in the past two years. On busy days, the airport may handle 100 takeoffs and landings. With the new runway, he believes traffic will increase, which the airport will be able to support.
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