The Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Connecticut is in the midst of a major expansion that will see a new passenger terminal, executive offices and hangar. Recently, the airport opened a U.S. Customers and Border Protection office to service international flights. The new expansions could mean more than 200 new jobs.
The multiphase construction, expansion and renovation project is from California-based aircraft management company Clay Lacy Aviation. The $20-million first phase will feature a passenger terminal, executive offices and 40,000-square-foot hangar, which will accommodate more aircraft and allow maintenance to occur indoors, reports the Hartford Business Journal.
The new full-service operator and maintenance facility is expected to create hundreds of high-paying jobs and be completed in the spring of 2024, according to Buddy Blackburn, Clay Lacy’s senior vice president.
Local officials hope that recent growth initiatives will raise Waterbury-Oxford Airport’s profile, making it a stronger regional economic driver and more attractive to charter flights from abroad, HBJ reports.
Besides Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Waterbury-Oxford is the only other Connecticut airfield with an on-site customs facility, which means international flights can fly directly into the airport.
Waterbury-Oxford, in the western Connecticut town of Oxford, is a general aviation airport primarily used for corporate, business and recreational charter flight operations. It consists of a single, 5,800-foot long asphalt runway — the second largest in the state, behind Bradley’s 10,000-foot runway. Dillon said Waterbury-Oxford’s main international users fly in from Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom and Caribbean islands, and the customs facility has already led to increased traffic.
The airport is projecting over 39,000 passengers this year, which would be up from 38,043 in 2021 and 33,599 in 2020, according to CAA data.