Sweet Aviation, the official FBO at the DeKalb County airport in Auburn, Indiana, celebrated the reopening of the airport's runway with a special ribbon cutting ceremony and corporate jet landing on Friday, 29 September. The runway has been closed since July to allow contractors time to extend it to 7,105ft and install new features.

The runway extension adds 2,105ft to the previously 5,000ft runway and features new runway lights, paint, runway signs and PAPI (precision approach path indicator) lights.

“We know that we have a safer, more capable airport today than we did yesterday,” says airport manager Russ Couchman. “Whenever we can put more runway in front of an aircraft, we give the crew more time to think and react, and this will always lead to better outcomes. At 7,105ft, the DeKalb County airport is now in an elite class of regional corporate class airports.”

The ribbon-cutting also marks nearly a year since Sweet Aviation assumed its role as FBO in November 2022. In the months since, the team has built up the airport's services, facilities and amenities. Pilots can now make use of a comfortable pilot lounge, concierge service, flight simulators and full laundry service.

“As the FBO, we also provide first-class maintenance service, flight training and ground school training,” says FBO manager Scotty Hepler. “Even with the runway shut down, Sweet Aviation has found ways to support DeKalb County's aviation community and meet the needs of our customers.”

During the closure, Sweet Aviation continued to offer pilots fuel through its partnership with Avfuel. Helicopter pilots, including air ambulance pilots with Parkview Samaritan, made frequent use of the competitive fuel rates in the past year and the company completed nearly 1,200 fuelling operations during that time.

To accommodate the expected increase in traffic and need for fuel, Sweet will add two new refueller trucks before the end of November; a 5,000 gallon Jet-A refueller and a 1,000 gallon 100LL gas truck. Airport managers also expect to have a new 100LL self-service fuel station up and running by mid-October.

DeKalb County airport acts as a vital economic gateway to and from northeast Indiana, generating an estimated $16 million annual contribution to the state economy. A longer runway promises to allow businesses to fly more freight directly into Auburn.

Hepler adds: “Some jets aren't able to take off on a 5,000ft runway with a full capacity of fuel and passengers. That extra 2,105ft allows us to bring in bigger and heavier jets that are full.”

“We look forward to supporting both our general aviation and business class customers as we become an even greater economic engine in the region,” says Couchman. “Thank you to all of our customers for hanging in there with us through this construction process.”

Efforts to expand the runway formally began as far back as 2009 when the airport began purchasing the necessary land. The project also required relocating high-tension power lines, purchasing wetland mitigation in lieu of fee credits, extending CR 62, closing CR 29 and building extension grading and drainage systems.

Phase 1 required 145,000 cubic yards of earthwork grading across 85 acres in preparation for paving. During this initial phase, 4,970 linear feet of new sewer system pipe was installed. Then, in phase 2, crews completed an additional 100,000 cubic yards of earthwork and 2,400 linear feet of storm sewer.

From planning and design to construction and inspection, the project cost totalled $23,812,000.

To reach full airport capability, more work will be required in the coming years. DeKalb County airport will complete construction of a glideslope antenna and medium-intensity approach lighting system (MALSR) on runway 27 in 2024. Then, in 2025, engineers will complete the extension of the parallel taxiway A to match the full runway length.