LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport is continuing to invest in its private aviation facilities. The airport selected Denham-Blythe to construct a new 50,000 square foot hangar for corporate aircraft.

Construction on the hangar is slated to begin in the coming weeks and it will feature 30 feet high doors which can accommodate the “longest and largest” business jets on the market. It will make the airport more attractive to corporations.

The $15.5 million project will hopefully be completed by next fall and will have offices, storage spaces and vehicle parking for business aviation partners at the airport.

“This project is important to us because we want to be able to provide adequate facilities for corporations that might look to relocate to our region, and we want to be able to come to the table with the facilities they may need to make that happen,” said Lauren Simmerman, community relations manager at Blue Grass Airport.

Simmerman said it’s something businesses ask about, but airports aren’t always able to supply.

“Hangars are in high demand across the country, so you’ll find waitlists for those at pretty much any airport,” Simmerman said.

Currently, the Blue Grass Airport has 96 private aircraft hangars on property.

While Blue Grass Airport offers 15 non-stop flights on major commercial airlines, private planes account for most of the arrivals and departures.

“Private aviation actually accounts for around 70% of our landings and takeoffs here at Blue Grass Airport, so I think that’s an important number when remembering the value such a hangar could be here,” Simmerman said.

Simmerman says business and leisure flight numbers are back to where they were pre-pandemic at Blue Grass Airport.

The airport serves as many as 1.4 million passengers every year.