Story ID: 019touchingbasesAINApril12
New Orleans Gets New FBO
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: 
Word Count: 153
Nearly seven years after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans Lakefront Airport, a new FBO has opened there, bringing the total number of service providers to three and signaling the continued revitalization of the historic gateway. The newest FBO, AeroPremier Jet Center, occupies a renovated former National Guard helicopter facility that was seriously damaged by the storm. The structure’s fate was uncertain until AeroPremier won a bid to operate an FBO in 2008 and received Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to help restore the building.

The Avfuel-branded facility, which opened on February 14, features a two-story atrium lobby, flight-planning room, pilot lounge and sleep rooms, private crew bathrooms and shower facilities, an eat-in kitchen and new crew cars. With more than 50,000 sq ft of space its hangar facility can accommodate jets up to the size of a Gulfstream V. The location is also home to a flight school and charter provider.