The Hot Springs Memorial Field master plan the city began working on in 2017 projected 3,300 enplanements and 108 aircraft based at the airport by 2022.
The airport has exceeded those projections, Airport Director Glen Barentine told the Hot Springs Board of Directors last week. There were 4,300 enplanements, or boardings, at the airport last year, with 4,700 projected for 2022.
"That gives me hope the airport is growing in the direction we want it to be," Barentine said.
One hundred and twelve aircraft are based at the airport, accounting for all of the hangar capacity, Barentine said.
"If we could build more hangars, we could have more aircraft," he said.
The master plan the city submitted for Federal Aviation Administration approval in September calls for more hangar space on the south side of the airport. Barentine said the pandemic and working with a rotating cast of FAA planners delayed the submittal. If the FAA approves the plan, it will be presented to the board for adoption.
The plan details airport development through 2038 and includes an airport layout plan. Projects listed on the latter plan are eligible for FAA funding, which helps the airport operate independently from the city's general fund.
The plan calls for four new hangars on either side of Runway 31, which is used by aircraft on a northwest heading, but the nearby VHF omnidirectional range, or VOR, limits what can be built on the south side of the airport. The VOR's beacon transmits radio frequencies aircraft use to land at the airport.
"Typically this type of navaid is located remotely from airports," Jordan Culver of Garver, the engineering firm helping the city develop the master plan, told the board. "Hot Springs is in a unique position where the VOR was originally built there and it's always been there. It basically takes an act of God to remove it."
Barentine said it's unlikely the VOR can be moved. Doing so would require setting up a temporary VOR and studying its effectiveness.
"It's not likely in our lifetime," he told the board. "There's not a lot of land to build on at the airport. That VOR is 77 acres in the middle of the airport. It's a hindrance, and I would love for it to disappear, but it is actually used quite regularly."
Barentine said two new hangars could be built on the west side of Runway 31, even with the VOR remaining in place. A taxiway south of runways 5 and 23, which are used by aircraft on northeast and southwest headings, would be needed. The master plan identified the new taxiway as a long-term capital project for 2029 to 2038.
"(The FAA) also wanted to see a parallel taxiway on the south side of 5-23," Culver told the board. "It would help aircraft on the south side get to and from the runway without having to cross a primary runway."
Five and 23 are the primary runways. The master plan lists overlaying them as a short-term capital project scheduled for 2025.
"They have the best approaches and longest and widest amount of pavement," Culver told the board. "Your bigger jets are always going to come in on 5-23, whereas 13-31 is a little bit shorter and a little bit more narrow. If the winds are adverse for 5-23, some of your smaller aircraft can operate on 13-31."
Barentine said 13-31 is used to park planes during special events that bring a lot of traffic to the airport. He said it could be used for the April 2024 eclipse. Hot Springs is in the path of totality, or the path traced by the moon's shadow. City officials are expecting the eclipse to draw a large number of visitors to the area.
"If we go to the unapproved parking areas and taxiways, we could probably do 300 of the small aircraft easily," Barentine said. "We've got a lot of open space with taxiways and runways that we can shut down for special events."
He said there's space for another 150 large planes on the airport ramp.
The master plan calls for a 600-foot extension of Runway 23. Culver said having a longer runway could accommodate larger planes, but it would require adding more than 3 acres to the runway protection zone on the east side of the airport. Barentine said a handful of houses are inside that acreage.
"That addition would be great, but it's not something we have to have," he told the board. "We're not missing any business coming into Hot Springs because we don't have that additional 600 feet. That's something we want eventually.
"I would like to put on the plans that as those houses come up we acquire them. That's only if we extend the runway. We're well within the RPZ in that area."
The draft list of unfunded capital projects presented to the board in August included replacing the World War II-era community hangar with a new hangar and terminal for private aircraft. The private terminal is currently housed in the same building as the main terminal. The master plan lists a separate terminal as a long-term capital project.
Barentine said he envisions a private terminal with valet service.
"You pull up and park underneath an awning," he told the board. "You get out. We take the plane and move it to parking for you. When you're ready to depart, we bring it back, stick it underneath the awning, and you load up and leave.
"That's my goal is to get Hot Springs to that level of service. We have the equipment, and we have the expertise. We just need to build the building."
The master plan includes selling the Bill Edwards Center at 517 Airport Road. The city leases the 6-acre complex from the airport, but it's sat mostly idle since the city moved its finance and utility billing services departments from there in 2020.
Only the traffic department remains, as the location is one of the few areas providing clear line of sight to mountain towers that link the traffic server to the city's traffic signals. City Manager Bill Burrough told the board the city can't sell the complex until it finds a new location for the server.
Barentine said the airport could use the proceeds from the sale to fund capital projects.