COUNCIL APPROVES SECOND AIRPORT FBO

The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport will have two fixed-base aviation firms.

The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday night approved a 15-year lease agreement with MDI Inc., doing business as Prestige Air Services. The agreement allows for an automatic, five-year extension.

The agreement is similar to the one under which Air Evac operates. Air Evac came in after the city last year evicted Cape Central Airways as the airport's fixed-base operator.

Prestige Air will sell fuel and offer charter service, aircraft maintenance and flight training.

It will lease about two acres from the city at a cost of $13,200 a year. In addition, the city will receive 2 percent of all gross receipts over $84,000 per month.

MDI President Duane Beussink said Prestige Air will begin scheduling charter flights within a few weeks from out of the MDI office on Highway 74.

Prestige Air plans to build a 22,000- to 25,000-square-foot building at the airport and be in full operation by summer.

The facility will be southeast of the terminal building at the end of the general aviation concrete apron, close to Interstate 55.

Sharon Dunn, general manager for Prestige Air, said consumers will benefit from having competing fixed-base operators.

It will mean competitive prices and better service, she said.

The lease agreement requires Prestige Air to own or lease at least five aircraft, including at least two multi-engine planes.

Dunn said Prestige Air will offer the red-carpet treatment for its customers, whether it be those who charter flights or general aviation pilots who stop at Cape to refuel.

Both she and Beussink said the company will market itself nationally, which, in turn, will help market Cape Girardeau.

Doug Leslie, assistant city manager, said the city will make some improvements to accommodate the new business at the airport.

"We will have to extend the roadway and water and sewer services to the site." The city also will help pay for construction of a parking lot.

Leslie said that since the airport receives some federal money, the city can't limit the number of fixed-base operators at the airport.

Federal regulations also require the city to lease property to airport businesses rather than sell it, he said.

Greg Chenoweth, the city's airport manager, said other airports have succeeded with more than one fixed-base operator.

Beussink announced the formation of Prestige Air Services last August before any lease agreement had been worked out with the city.