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Companies Interested In Building At Lunken Airport

Ninety percent of the travelers Lunken serves are for business.
Ann Thompson
/
WVXU
Ninety percent of the travelers Lunken serves are for business.

Lunken Airport Manager Fred Anderton says after a decade of relative quiet on the economic development front the City of Cincinnati is getting requests to build corporate facilities and even private storage hangars there.

Every day Lunken has 100 takeoffs and landings.
Credit Ann Thompson / WVXU
/
WVXU
Every day Lunken has 100 takeoffs and landings.

The problem Anderton faces is lack of land. The airport is surrounded by two rivers, has railroad tracks to the west and a state highway to the north. He says, "We've got to develop some areas that we can place those facilities."

One solution may be to demolish an under-used runway that the FAA says doesn't meet design standards. Anderton says that could happen in two to three years.

In the meantime, Lunken's biggest employer, Executive Jet Management, continues to grow. It employees 300 people in Cincinnati. President Marc Drobny says he will add aircraft and staff over time. "We're continuing to grow the business organically. We have a very strong pipeline of potential customers interested in coming to us."

Drobny proudly says his company, is the best at what it does and biggest of it's kind in the world.

Another employer, Ultimate Air Shuttle has expanded since 2009. President Rick Pawlak says his airline now serves five cities and will announce another destination later this year or early next.  Ultimate Air serves between 1700-1800 passengers a week out of Lunken.

Copyright 2021 91.7 WVXU. To see more, visit 91.7 WVXU.

With more than 30 years of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market, Ann Thompson brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting. She has reported for WKRC, WCKY, WHIO-TV, Metro Networks and CBS/ABC Radio. Her work has been recognized by the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2019 and 2011 A-P named her “Best Reporter” for large market radio in Ohio. She has won awards from the Association of Women in Communications and the Alliance for Women in Media. Ann reports regularly on science and technology in Focus on Technology.