NEWS: Airport Near Disney World Plans Expansion

Those who travel to Orlando for Disney World or Universal Orlando are probably familiar with Orlando International Airport, and possibly even Orlando Sanford Airport. However, there’s ANOTHER airport in the area you might not be aware of.

That airport is Kissimmee Gateway Airport, and although you probably won’t ever have a reason to fly there, that airport could be getting an expansion that could benefit the Orlando area as a whole.

According to The Orlando Business Journal, the city of Kissimmee is considering a developer to lease and expand 119.9 acres on the southern side of the airport. That would include what was once the Kissimmee Municipal Golf Course, which closed in 2018. The city would like to redevelop the land to bring more aviation businesses to the airport.

A document submitted by the city read: “In recent years, the airport has been visited by aircraft manufacturers interested in locating operations to Kissimmee,” the document said. “However, due to the lack of infrastructure and utilities at the former golf course site, our responses did not meet their schedules and requirements. This places the property at an unfair disadvantage when competing against other airport sites.”

Last year, the airport completed its Airport Master Plan update, which included ideas for the layout of uses for the property, which would mostly focus on aeronautical development, which would boost aviation business.

The airport is already expected to grow from 259 aircraft in 2021 to 313 in 2042. The number of flights is expected to go from 135,290 in 2019 up to 173,409 in 2040. However, the airport does not offer scheduled passenger service. Instead, it offers some air taxi services and has a variety of aviation aircraft operations, including a facility that restores World War II-era military aircraft.

Check back with AllEars again soon for more.