Just this month, two major updates have been announced by the Gulf Shores International Airport.

In early June, the airport authority announced the completion of the buildout of the Southwest Corporate Hangar Complex.

Then, at a June 5 city council work session, the approval of a land lease with Resicum
International, LLC to construct a hangar office complex was also confirmed.

Scott Fuller, airport director, said these two new additions are just a few of the many upgrades to expect this year.

However, he mentioned the airport's focus remains on adding commercial terminals.

"Our main focus is still the commercial terminal, which we have been working on for a few years," Fuller said. "Where we are on that is that the airport was just upgraded to a commercial airport last month, which opened up the avenue of funding and we can utilize federal fund support for the terminal."

Fuller said they are now entering the engineering selection process and will immediately begin the design phase thereafter.

"We expect funding to come out around September for airline terminal projects and be ready to go when the grant announcements come out around December or January," Fuller said. "Right now, construction is slated to begin in March 2024 with a March 2025 completion date. We are talking to a number of airlines right now, but we are putting them off until 2025."

Fuller said he expects the Resicum project to be completed this year, which will "construct an initial facility of 21,800 square feet on a 3.7-acre site next to the recently completed new air traffic control tower facility," according to the early June press release.

"From this site they will perform aircraft maintenance, avionics sales and repair along with their existing flight instruction and military service contracts."

Additionally, Fuller said the airport will be taking on a few smaller projects including fencing and security system replacements, runway re-markings, taxi lane re-pavements and designing a new fire station.

"If you look at the economic impact of the airport, when we transition to a commercial airport you could triple that and have a major impact on the community," Fuller said. "Not to mention all of the jobs that will be created, we are very excited."