Customs facility breaks ground at Fulton County airport

Fulton County officials broke ground Thursday on a customs facility at Fulton County Executive Airport, a project county leaders say will make the general aviation airport more competitive for international business travel.

It’s also part of a broader expansion of the airport on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.

The $5.2 million project will allow customs agents to process international arrivals directly at the airport. Currently, agents must travel from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to meet inbound international flights, a process county officials say slows down business travel. Federal and state funding is paying $3.5 million of the total cost, with an additional $1.7 million coming from the Fulton County Airport Fund.

The Fulton County Executive Airport is seen on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Olivia Bowdoin for the AJC).

“This means that international travelers will be able to clear customs right here at our airport, making arrivals more seamless, more secure and more efficient,” Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “That’s exactly the kind of infrastructure businesses expect in a world-class county like Fulton County.”

Fulton County’s airport, also known as Charlie Brown Field, is the third-busiest airport in Georgia, with more than 80,000 flight operations last year, a 24-hour control tower and more than 100 aircraft based there. More than half those aircraft are business jets, making the airport what county officials describe as metro Atlanta’s premier corporate aviation gateway.

David Clark, Fulton County’s director of public works, said the customs facility is one of several upgrades underway at the airport, including a nearly finished aircraft rescue and firefighting facility meant to serve all of the airport’s tenants in the event of an emergency.

The county also plans to extend the airport’s main runway by roughly 1,000 feet. Clark said the extension would allow larger aircraft to fly nonstop to Central and Eastern Europe without a fuel stop, something the current runway length doesn’t support for some long-haul flights.

According to airport officials, some aircraft bound for Europe currently cannot take off from Fulton County’s airport with a full fuel load because of the runway’s length. In those cases, the aircraft depart with reduced fuel, stop at an airport with a longer runway, such as Hartsfield-Jackson or Chattanooga Airport, refuel, and continue to their destination. The runway extension is intended to eliminate the need for that extra stop.

A Fulton County truck drives by before the groundbreaking ceremony for a customs facility at Fulton County Executive Airport. (Carson Bonner/AJC)

Pitts said the customs facility and other upgrades represent a broader vision for the airport’s future that includes new hangars, expanded capacity and continued investment in safety infrastructure.

County Manager Dick Anderson said the airport’s proximity to Atlanta has been a factor in companies’ decisions to relocate to the region.

Anderson also pointed to broader investment along Fulton Industrial Boulevard, an area the county has worked to redevelop after acquiring and removing blighted properties in past years. He said the corridor has since seen improved public safety outcomes and new economic development, with more than $150 million in combined federal, state and county investment in the area, including funding for an animal control shelter and a public safety training center.