The city of Frederick, Maryland, has completed a runway extension project at Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), the second-busiest airport in the state and a reliever for Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The $3.7 million project, funded 90 percent by the FAA, with the balance covered by the state aviation administration, the city, and county, began in June. It consisted of adding 600 feet to primary Runway 5/23, bringing it to a new length of 5,819 feet, which, according to the airport, will improve the safety margins for all local aircraft and will accommodate increased fuel and passenger loads for larger jets flying in and out of FDK. The work also included the extension of Taxiway Alpha. Airport manager Rick Johnson told AIN the runway expansion opens the airport to future ramp and hangar development.
Located just outside the Washington, D.C. special flight rules area, the airport has a Signature Flight Support FBO and is home to 200 aircraft. It saw more than 95,000 operations last year. In December 2018, the city of Frederick awarded the lease of a 620,000-sq-ft site at the airport to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for the development of a hangar complex consisting of up to 194,400 sq ft of general aviation aircraft hangars.