MTAA details infrastructure work, new hangar push and plan to bring commercial flights to Topeka

Curtis Snead, chair of the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority, told the Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners on March 10 that the authority is pursuing a series of infrastructure and business-development projects at Philip Billard Airport and Topeka Regional Airport (Forbes) aimed at boosting activity, attracting high-tech tenants and restoring commercial air service to Topeka.

The MTAA oversees Topeka Regional Airport (Forbes), the Topeka Regional Business Center industrial park and Philip Billard Airport. Snead described recent investments and near-term projects including new fuel farms at both airports, taxiway rehabilitation at Forbes to meet safety standards, perimeter fencing at Billard and a proposed 80,000-square-foot maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hangar at Forbes.

"We're positioning ourselves in a unique way once we get that hangar built," Snead said, describing ongoing talks with an international firm that could locate operations in Topeka if financing is secured. The authority is pursuing a mix of state funding, bonding and private…