The Manassas Regional Airport is set to undergo a major Federal Aviation Administration inspection later this month, paving the way for its planned acquisition of commercial flights.

Administration representatives will conduct a Part 139 inspection May 27-29, with the trademark procedure – the first in the airport’s history – serving as a crucial step toward the approval of airport commercialization in light of recent delays.

According to Juan Rivera, the airport director, the inspection – which includes a night examination – is one of two key components needed to obtain an Airport Operating Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, which would allow the airport to make the conversion from general aviation status to commercial.

“If you were to look at the airport certification manual that we have to produce, the thing is, like, that thick – it’s really extensive,” Rivera told InsideNoVa, “but inside that document is multiple smaller documents – the emergency plan, the wildlife plan, the snow removal plan, all of those are important documents that we have to keep updated. So that’s the crux of this whole thing.”

The second requirement is an environmental assessment, which the administration also oversees. Dulles-based Avports, an aviation management company, is the city airport’s primary partner on the project. Avports has managed the environmental assessment process on the airport’s behalf since the company finalized its contract with the city of Manassas.

With regard to the assessment timeline, Rivera said the airport and its Avports partners hope for a “finding of no significant impact” from the administration this November.

Manassas City Council voted unanimously last summer to approve a 40-year lease agreement between the airport and Avports, giving the company an exclusive right to operate commercial passenger service out of the airport for over $700,000 annually. The plans also included an expansion to the terminal building by roughly 30,000 square feet.

According to Jolene Berry, assistant airport director, the airport currently faces various ongoing project costs needed for commercial service, and exact costs will become clearer if it obtains its Airport Operating Certificate.

The airport does not take from the city of Manassas’s general fund, and all operations are either self-funded or funded in partnership with Avports, according to Berry.

The new terminal expansion is expected to cost Avports an estimated $75-$125 million.

Berry said general aviation airports – the Manassas Regional Airport’s current status – measure flights annually, while commercial airports typically measure them daily and on a scheduled basis.

Currently, the airport sees 110,000 operations, or flights, annually, which will increase by 10-12% with the opening of commercial service. Once commercialization is finalized, there will initially be one to three scheduled flights per day, and that number “may be” up to 30 flights per day within 10 years, Berry said.

The Part 139 inspection also contains an Aircraft Rescue Firefighting component, commonly known as ARF, which the airport has outsourced to Pro-Tec Fire Services, a company specialized in airport rescue training and management that provides such services to 27 airports nationwide, according to Rivera.

“Once you get the airport operating certificate, it’s indefinite,” Rivera said, “until you either relinquish it to the FAA and say, ‘We’re no longer going to be a Part 139 airport.’ Or, if you do something that’s out of compliance and you do not correct it, the FAA could take it away from you. That doesn’t happen very often, because most airports, if they do have an issue with compliance, they immediately take action to correct it.”

Project timeline

Matt Shelby, chief development officer at Avports, told InsideNoVa the company is eager to welcome airlines and kickstart commercial flights.

“The short answer is as soon as possible, but we’re probably about a year away,” Shelby said on getting operations up and running. “I think the main things that we are waiting for right now are these two certifications that we need from the FAA.”

Rivera was hesitant to provide an exact opening date but estimated around two years from the initial courtesy inspection in early 2024 as an approximation for commercial launch. He said certification is a rare occurrence, as Shenandoah Airport was the most recent in Virginia to be certified around 60 years ago.

“It’s taking everybody at least two years to make it if you’re starting from scratch, like we are,” Rivera said. “If your airport had been a [Part] 139 airport before, it’s much easier to ramp back up, but if you’ve never had this requirement and you’re trying to meet it for the first time, it’s a process.”

Rivera added, “I, honestly, at the beginning of this, thought that we would get through it in a year, easily. And I will tell you that closer to 18 to 24 months is more realistic for an airport like ours, starting from scratch – never having had a certification.”

Shelby said the administration has been “extremely responsive” and “helpful” throughout the process, despite a few notable delays earlier this year.

“We may have lost a few months on those certifications while we waited for some responses from the regulatory agencies in D.C.,” Shelby said. “But I would say that that is not to be unexpected with a project of the complexity and with the potential influence of what we’re trying to do … We’re on the right path, we’re speaking with them, we believe that we’ll have those certifications in hand in the coming months.”

A new landscape

Both Rivera and Shelby said the Transportation Security Administration has been a diligent partner in planning for the new landscape that will result from commercial flights.

Avports has requested a third, supplementary security lane to facilitate the processing of customers as efficiently as possible.

Shelby said the passenger experience is paramount.

“When you think about the D.C. landscape, we aim for a seven to 12-minute, curb-to-gate, parking lot-to-gate experience,” Shelby said. “When we think about our peers in the region, we think we’re going to be able to produce something that is going to have a great draw … we like bright, airy, open, high ceilings with glass, and that really pops from the street.”

According to Rivera, the airport must produce its Airport Operating Certificate and a 60% design plan for the new terminal building before the security administration can move forward with its installation process.

“TSA has said, ‘Well, we will start working with you, we don’t have a problem with that, but we’re not going to purchase equipment and we’re not going to start getting personnel lined up until you at least have your AOC,’” Rivera said. “They’ve told us anywhere between six and nine months to get fully up and operational.”

Airlines and potential routes

Shelby pointed to another Avports project – an airport in New Haven, Conn., which took around two and a half years and generated 750,000 passengers – as a comparable project.

“We’ve taken that facility from around zero enplanements up to three quarters of a million in 36 months or so,” Shelby said. “We’d love to be able to do the same – and we perceive doing the same – in Manassas.”

Shelby said it is still too early to reveal which airline companies are jockeying for spots on the tarmac due to economic reasons.

“This is something that the airlines protect pretty aggressively,” Shelby said. “I don’t think they want to let their competitors know what they’re going to be doing next. I think if you announce too early, it gives your competition time to respond. So I think it’s natural that that announcement would be a little closer to the opening date.”

Shelby added the “catchment area” for residents of Manassas and Prince William County includes the Florida market and locations in New England as the most popular destinations.

“We remain in active discussions with a variety of carriers,” Shelby said. “We welcome everyone, of course, but I think, hopefully, we’ll be able to announce that in the coming months.”