FBO To Bring Customs to Florida's Vero Beach

Corporate Air, an FBO at Florida’s Vero Beach Regional Airport, will break ground next month on a 4,000-sq-ft U.S. Customs inspection facility. The $2.2-million structure, built to U.S. Customs and Border Protection specifications, will be adjacent to the FBO's terminal and is expected to be completed in early 2023.

“Our customers were frequently flying internationally and wanted to come directly to their Florida homes, so we have answered their request and are building a U.S. Customs facility that will turn Vero into an international airport,” said company president Rodger Pridgeon.

The FBO is in expansion mode. It opened a 12,000-sq-ft hangar in March, bringing its total aircraft storage space to 65,000 sq ft. It is also adding more than four acres of ramp space in a $7 million project—funded by the state Department of Transportation and the airport—ahead of the start of construction of a trio of 12,000-sq-ft hangars, which are expected to be completed by mid-2023.

The developments are due to increasing demand, said Pridgeon. “We would build a hangar and it would immediately fill up with mostly large jets,” he told AIN. “As we increased our [eight-acre] ramp, it would still max out on peak days.” Plans call for the construction of another pair of 12,000-sq-ft hangars and a 30,000-sq-ft MRO facility.