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[caption id="attachment_182526" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Ribbon cutting ceremony at Stafford Regional Airport [Photo: Rick Horner][/caption]

After 15 years of planning and negotiation, Stafford Regional Airport has completed its goal of extending its runway by 1,000 feet.

The airport held a ceremony in honor of the extension, which included the flight of a blue Boeing-Stearman Model 75 biplane, the first plane that flew from and touched down on the newly extended runway.

The ceremony included former and current members of its authority and various members of the Stafford County government and its board of supervisors.

"It's a monumental day. There are so many people that were involved in getting this project going. We had great leadership, and it was a big collaboration between the municipalities and the FAA on the state and national levels. It's a great combination of everyone coming together to see this happen." said John Eaves, the current chairman of the Airport Authority.

The goal of the extension, according to both Eaves and other members of the authority, was to allow for bigger planes to use the airport. The 1,000-foot extension will also lead to more fuel sales and a greater probability of economic development in the area due to the newly extended, now 6,000-foot runway.

The funding for the extension came from the Federal Aviation Administration, which gave $5.5 million to the airport in July 2021. That funding came from a larger pot of $14 million of transportation funding dedicated to Virginia airports. Construction on the extension would begin in June 2022 and finish in early September.

"We're very excited that the runway extension is complete and that the FAA was phenomenal in this since they paid for the entire expansion. This did not cost our taxpayers in Stafford County any money," said Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke.

Potomac Local News also spoke to Hank Schapenberg, who was also present at the ceremony and performed the ribbon-cutting duties. Scharfenberg has been a part of the Airport Authority since 2007 and was a vocal proponent of the runway extension when people thought, as Scharpenberg himself puts it "touching the third rail" on the matter.

"The airport can now function as a true economic driver, it can get businessmen in here from either the West Coast or Europe, take off again, and we know that's going to bring economic development," said Scharpenberg.

The next move for the airport, according to Schapenberg adding more T-hangers to house more planes. The airport also wants to pursue more corporate clients willing to park their aircraft at the airport.

The Stafford Regional Airport sits at 90 Aviation Way in Stafford, just off Centreport Parkway.