Story ID: 
Sheltair To Add Second Georgia FBO
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Sheltair has won a request-for-proposals bid to take over an FBO at Atlanta-area Gwinnett County Airport.
Word Count: 214
Sheltair will expand its service network in Georgia with the announcement that it has been selected by Gwinnett County Airport (KLZU) to take over the FBO location formerly operated by Gwinnett Aero, whose lease has expired. Florida-based, family-owned Sheltair was chosen at the completion of a request-for-proposal process for the $17 million project. The company operates 20 FBOs in Florida, Colorado, and Texas, as well as a facility in Savannah, Georgia.
“This is an important move for Sheltair into the Atlanta metro area and a large investment to redevelop the significant facilities already on site, almost 220,000 sq ft of hangars,” said Milo Zonka, the company’s v-p of real estate. “Design and construction of a new FBO and restaurant/office facility will commence shortly.” Sheltair will begin operations on April 2 from the existing facility as an Avfuel-branded location.
The company was awarded a 40-year lease on the property at the state’s third-busiest airport, which saw 119,000 operations last year. In its successful proposal to the airport authority, Sheltair claimed that the airport is underutilized and said it intends to market the county—which has growing bioscience, technology, and manufacturing industries—as a business aviation destination.