Lone Star Executive Airport (KCXO) in Conroe celebrated the opening of its new extension of Runway 14-32 during a March 23 ceremony that featured Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal and members of the Montgomery County Commissioners Court.
The new 1,500-foot runway extension, constructed by Webber LLC, accommodates larger aircrafts and caters to more Montgomery County residents, said David Fulton, Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Director.
The Lone Star Executive Airport completed a 1,500-foot runway extension and
held a ribbon cutting ceremony March 23.
The extension brings the airport runway to 7,500 feet. Also included in the project was the construction of a new taxiway on the west end of the airport.
“This will now provide a capability to handle larger aircrafts and allow them to fly longer ranges to other cities,” Fulton said. “It will also bring an economic development impact to Montgomery County as it will allow more people to fly.”
Fulton said the engineering and construction of the runway extension projects was about $20 million. The grant funding for the project came from the Federal Aviation Administration’s airport improvement program. The program provides grants to airports to make capital improvements.
“The Texas Transportation Commission approved the grant and then the [Texas Department of Transportation] Aviation division managed the grant and construction,” Fulton said. “There had to be shown [by Lone Star Executive Airport that] there was a need for construction and now, because of the extension, larger aircrafts can operate at the airport.”
The runway extension is one of several major projects that airport manager Scott Smith has undertaken in the last few years.
Among the other notable accomplishments include:
- Overseeing construction of a $2.4 million customs facility which will enable international flights to fly directly to the airport.
- In January 2014, a new state-of-the-art fixed-based operation (FBO) opened a corporate and general aviation facility located at the south corner of the airport.
- Increased hangar space to 773,000 sq. ft. in 2013 from 174,000 sq. ft. in 1996.
The mission of Lone Star Executive Airport is to serve the needs of corporate aviation and local aircraft owner/pilot population in the North Houston/The Woodlands/Conroe area.
Lone Star provides a facility for locally based businesses and serves as a destination for corporate and business aviation; the airport contributes more than $33.3 million to the economic development in the region.