TTF NEWS:

Hot Springs County Airport (HSG) in Wyoming will officially open Nov. 7 about 10 miles northwest of Thermopolis. The new airport replaces the Hot Springs-Thermopolis Municipal Airport (THP).

“The replacement of the airport is a significant improvement to aviation safety in this part of Wyoming,” said Dennis Byrne, administrator of the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division. “The replacement airport site is well equipped to support air transportation and economic development and will continue to provide critical access to the community for medical specialists, tourists and various businesses for many years to come.”

Terrain surrounding the old airport’s 4,592-foot runway precluded night operations and presented summertime challenges, according to airport officials.

Officials began planning the new $22 million airport in the 1980s and broke ground in 2012.

In planning for the new airport, the county bought 482 acres of property, which will enable extension of the 6,370-by-75-foot Runway 5/23 to 7,700 feet without additional land acquisitions. The airport is scheduled to have LPV instrument approaches, which are to be commissioned in 2016. Until then, visual operations will be used. There will be roughly a dozen aircraft based at the new airport.

The runway and its full parallel taxiway will be lighted, and the airport will have an an automated weather observing system (AWOS).

A 4,200-square-foot terminal with public areas, restrooms, a pilots’ lounge, garages for airport equipment, as well as an 80-by-80-foot hangar now stands next to the 200,000-square-foot ramp.

The county has signed leases for eight more hangars and is finalizing the FBO contract for fuel, maintenance and airport upkeep. Until the 10,000-gallon self-serve Jet A and avgas tanks are installed in early 2016, the county will truck avgas in from the old airport.