Cape council approves airport lease for avionics business

An aircraft-avionics business will lease space at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport under an agreement approved Monday by the City Council.

Elite Avionics Services LLC will lease office and hangar space in hangar 71, airport manager Bruce Loy said.

The hangar formerly housed Commander Premier Aircraft Corp., which the city later evicted for failing to make lease payments.

The new company will provide “installation and troubleshooting services” for aircraft radio and navigation systems, Loy said.

Several people already involved in aircraft maintenance and repairs at the airport, including Brian Ozark, owner of Ozark Aircraft and Maintenance, formed Elite Avionics Service, Loy said.

The Cape Girardeau airport has not had an avionics shop for many years, according to Loy.

“While this lease is only for one year, we are hopeful that the new startup company will eventually expand and extend their lease with the airport,” Loy wrote in an agenda report to the council.

The city will be paid more than $5,900 over the period of the lease, or just under $500 a month, Loy said.

Having an avionics shop will provide another reason for aircraft owners to fly to Cape Girardeau, he said, adding it should lead to increased fuel sales.

The leased space is just a small part of the 52,000-square-foot hangar.

The lease contains a clause allowing the city to terminate the lease within 90 days if it receives a lease or purchase offer for the hangar, Loy said.

Officials with Commander announced plans in 2005 to establish a small-plane production company and hire 100 people within three years.

But the company never manufactured a single plane.

The city evicted the company in October 2011 after it failed to make lease payments dating to 2007. It took until 2014 for the then-bankrupt company to move out.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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