The terminal for Palestine Municipal Airport houses a lounge, flight planning room, office, conference room and other amenities.

It’s “abnormal” for small-town airport such as Palestine Municipal Airport to have two runways instead of one, said Dr. John Dorsett, chairman of the airport advisory board.

“That’s a pretty good thing for a small town like Palestine,” he added.

 The airport has a 5,000-foot runway and a crosswind runway, said Tim Perry, city public works director, who also serves as airport director.

The longer runway, which small jets can land on, extends north-south while the other runway lies east-west.

 The big significance of the airport having two runways is that it’s a lot easier to land if the wind is blowing out of a different way, Dorsett said.

 Another benefit, Perry said, is “I understand to get your pilot’s license, you have to train on a crosswind runway.”

 Pilots have to go to Tyler, Waco, Houston or Dallas to find another airport in the region that has a crosswind runway, Perry said.

 Ron Jarrett, who flies once a week and stores his plane at the Palestine airport, said, “Considering the size of Palestine, it’s a really nice airport and they keep it up real well. It’s managed correctly, and everything is good.”

 Palestine Municipal Airport meets transportation needs of the local aviation community, Perry said.

 Besides providing service for local citizens, the airport makes it easier for representatives of corporations traveling across country to come to Palestine for site visits and meetings, instead of traveling hundreds of miles by car just for a couple of hours, Perry said.

 In addition to hosting nationwide commercial aviation transportation, the airport meets because medical needs since a medical helicopter from the local hospital flies in, Perry said.

A life flight jet for Children’s Hospital in Dallas also lands at the airport, Dorsett said.

“For any emergencies where they need an aircraft, it’s significant to have an airport that can handle it,” Dorsett said.

 A lot of business jets also come through and land, Dorsett noted.

 Martin Air flies in providing UPS daily and overnight package service. An airplane for NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility headquartered in Palestine and 35 to 40 local privately owned personal planes are stationed at the airport, Perry said.

The facility is an economic development tool, making the town more competitive, according to the airport director.

The airport began with a dirt runway.

Later, two paved runways were built, each 4,000 feet long, About 20 years ago, the main runway was extended another 1,000 feet, making it 5,005 feet long and 100 feet wide. The crosswind runway is still 4,002 feet long and 75 feet wide.

The airport has multiple private hangars and a terminal building that opened in 2000.

The original hangar, called the common hangar and erected in 1933, is still in use, with the airport’s fixed-base operator renting out space. It holds seven to nine aircraft, depending on their size.

Free short-term overnight tie-down is available. Contracts for land leases for private hangar construction also are available, according to the airport website.

The terminal has a living room with a television, a lounge with chairs and couches, vending machines with refreshments, an office and a weather computer room where pilots can check the weather, do flight planning and work on logbooks. Pilots can nap, shower and rest in the pilot’s lounge, Perry said.

The approximately 4,000-square-foot terminal also has a conference room where the airport advisory board and other groups meet.

“We’ve enlarged the apron or tarmac, increased taxiways and our lighting,” Perry said.

The airport has pilot controlled runway lighting for night landings.

“Our lighting has been brought up to the newest technology. Once a plane gets in the vicinity, the pilot can key the microphone on the radio and it sends a signal to the lighting system to make the (airport) lights brighter. After awhile, the lights get dimmer to save energy,” Perry said.

The Texas Department of Transportation has helped the city with the airport’s automated weather operating system, which allows pilots to get weather conditions at the local airport.

 The majority of airplanes that use the airport are private aircraft, Perry observed. Commercial aircraft also land at the airport, but there are no chartered flights out of the Palestine airport. It does not have an air traffic control tower.

 The city contracts with a fixed base operator, called Palestine Jet Center, to carry out daily operations of the airport. The fixed base operator takes care of community hangars and rents them out. He is proposing to get a mechanic for the airport and to build another hangar to house additional aircraft.

 There are 29 hangars. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved a new hangar and another proposed hangar is waiting on FAA approval, Perry said.

 “That will draw additional activity,” he predicted. “We have a lot of area for development; we have plenty of build-out space for commercial and private development for hangars,” Perry said.

 Commercial air traffic includes some Learjet, some twin-engine turbo jets and King Air planes.

 “We are looking at upgrading water lines to provide more service out there, especially fire protection,” Perry said. “We are at the edge of growth.”

 Also with the increased activity by smaller jet aircraft, he added, “we’re proposing at some point, hopefully in the next few years, to extend our existing 5,000-foot runway another 600 feet or another 1,000 feet to accommodate the next step up bigger jets.”

Perry said, “We’re hoping to do that to entice more activity at the airport.”

Bigger aircraft currently have to go to airports in Tyler or Waco and then passengers have a long commute to Palestine, Perry observed.

The airport sprawls over about 280 acres on Anderson County Road 421. The city has an agreement with a local rancher who cuts hay and keeps vegetation down. Anderson County helps with dozers and employees to push timber down, Perry said.

Texas Department of Transportation crews sealed some older pavement, such as the crosswind runway, a taxiway and the older part of the apron recently with donated materials.

Within the past 10 years, the fuel system was upgraded, making it capable of containing 12,000 gallons. Planes may fuel with AvGas or Jet-A fuel at the self-serve pump by credit card 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But staff members are on hand during business hours to assist with fuel pumping if requested, states the airports Web site.

A Jet-A fuel truck is available. Also, a courtesy car is available for short-term use on a first come, first serve basis.

The airport operates on an annual budget of approximately $52,000.