A new company is opening a hangar and aviation consulting facility at the Winchester Regional Airport as an alternative to Washington Dulles International Airport for private jets.
The facility is scheduled to open today and is being run by three former airline pilots who saw a demand for private jet facilities after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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The company chose the Winchester spot because it is outside the airspace restrictions many local airports deal with, has a secure border surrounding it and can cater to businesses that have been expanding westward, according to Professional Jet Services (ProJet) Chief Executive Shye Gilad.
The first phase of the facility is 26,400 square feet, which the company plans to expand, Gilad said. The hangar can hold an average of three to four jets, depending on their size, he added.
The company also plans to offer a full range of services to pilots, from consulting services on chartering their planes to the staffing of pilots and upkeep of their planes, Gilad added.
“We spend a lot of our time educating our clients, letting them know what’s available, figuring out whether they’d like to own an aircraft or share ownership,” Gilad said.
Gilad declined to disclose prices, but said the company charges a per-square-foot fee for hangar space and a range of additional fees for other services.
ProJet has signed on entrepreneur Sheila C. Johnson, CEO of Salamander Hospitality, as one of its clients. Her company is building a large resort in nearby Middleburg.
There has been a demand for hangar space from local pilots, according to Kathleen Vasconcelos, a spokeswoman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in Frederick.
Both the Frederick Municipal Airport and the Martinsburg/Eastern West Virginia Airport include new hangars as part of their master plans, Vasconcelos said.
melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com
