Mesquite Metro Airport continues to soar to new heights

The Mesquite Metro Airport has a plane land or take-off about every six minutes. The nearly 86,000 operations in 2020 places the airport 164 out of 520 airports throughout the United States with an air traffic control tower. Those accomplishments were part of a briefing on the airport presented to the Mesquite City Council on Jan. 19.

Mesquite Metro Airport Manager Eric Pratt, said, “The Mesquite Metro Airport is the front door to our community for a lot of corporate businesses considering to invest in our community. We need to continue to create and provide the best concierge services possible to make sure they feel welcomed. We want them to know we value their visit to Mesquite and appreciate their decision to choose to fly into our airport.” 

Pratt shared that there are currently 215 aircraft based at Mesquite Metro Airport and a 2018 Texas Department of Transportation survey indicated the airport annually has an estimated $22.7 million impact on local economy.

Pratt presented the airport’s strategic plan to the City Council which included four initiatives. The plan features attracting new aviation business, with new marketing and branding efforts, enhanced security measures, acquiring land for future growth and developing a long-range master plan. 

City Manager Cliff Keheley said, “The airport has a significant impact on our local economy and expansion and growth at the airport are essential expanding our tax base. There are a lot of good things going on at the airport. I am proud of the efforts of Eric Pratt and his staff to provide a quality operation with high standards for customer service.”

The airport, located at 1340 Airport Boulevard and with the Federal Aviation Administration identifier of HQZ, sits on 448 acres and hosts 166 hangars. In 2020, the airport’s fuel sales exceeded 317,300 gallons. 

Pratt said, “We have seen tremendous growth at the airport in the past few years, and we want to continue that with a focus on being viewed as a first class facility for our corporate clients as well as our leisure plane owners who use our airport.”