History made at Barrow County Airport

This was released today by the Barrow County government

The Barrow County Airport, a central aviation hub for northeast Georgia, saw a record number of aircraft during the weekend of the nationally televised college football game between the University of Georgia and the University of Texas.

Barrow County saw 73 aircraft, including 53 jets, 14 turboprops and six piston engine planes, come through the airport between Friday and Sunday, with officials opting to close the airport’s shorter runway to accommodate parking the aircraft passing through.

“We typically see about four large jets coming to the Barrow County Airport during a calendar year,” said Stoney Bangert, Barrow County Airport Manager. “But this weekend alone, we had eight large jets, along with 65 other aircraft at our facility. We estimate that there was close to $1 billion worth of airplanes on the ground at one point.”

Romanair WDR, Inc., the fixed base operator at the airport, which provides aircraft fuel and maintenance, reported no issues – no aircraft breakdowns, damage to aircraft or other incidents.

“Romanair has operated at this airport since 1985, and we can say with full confidence that this was the busiest 48 hours in our company’s history,” said Drew Mancini, President of Romanair. “Our initial estimates said we would have about 30-35 aircraft coming in for the game, but even with that number more than doubling throughout the weekend, the team at the Barrow County Airport handled it flawlessly.”

The weekend concluded with Gov. Brian Kemp departing from the airport, closing out what is believed to be the busiest weekend in the airport’s illustrious history.

“This really was a team effort,” said Bangert. “I cannot speak highly enough of our continued partnership with Romanair and everyone who works so hard to make the Barrow County Airport a great place to fly.”

NOTE:

Officials in Athens-Clarke County last week reported that Athens-Ben Epps Aiiroort also had been at its busiest eyer because of the football game,