Aurora airport reports surge in traffic; more competition for service credited

Aurora Municipal Airport has been a busy place for the past six months.

Air traffic at the airport in Sugar Grove has jumped 28 percent compared to the same period in 2008 - the largest percentage increase of any facility in the state, according to monthly Federal Aviation Administration logs.

Of the 13 airports in Illinois that have control towers, only two others - in Decatur and Cahokia - reported growth. Decatur Airport saw a 3 percent increase while Cahokia's marked a 7 percent increase.

Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner said the boost is due largely to the December 2008 relocation of J.A. Air Center from DuPage Airport to Aurora to compete with Lumanair.

"The city has been focusing on a program for many years to develop the infrastructure of the airport," Weisner said. "That work is paying off because it has created an attractive environment for both corporate and recreational users."

Ken Schroth, director of the city's public works department, which oversees the airport, said competition between J.A. Air Center and Lumanair Aviation Services has resulted in some of the lowest fuel prices in the region.

"Instead of one fuel provider, we now have two. A lot of aircraft were coming in that the tower controllers didn't recognize," Schroth said. "As pilots get used to coming here, they may come back to have their aircraft worked on, or they might need other services, like flight simulator training, that are provided by the smaller businesses."

Both J.A. and Lumanair provide a variety of flight services, including refueling, plane and part sales, hangars, flight training and pilot supplies.

Mike Luman, owner of Lumanair, Inc., was unavailable Monday and did not reply to an e-mail seeking comment. Brad Zeman, president of J.A. Air, however, agreed with city officials that his company's move was the catalyst.

"Our customers fly in to us from all over the country and they now come to us in Aurora," Zeman said. "The expanded facilities there have done a lot to convince a lot of other companies to consider changing their flight plans to include a stop in Aurora."

The competition for services in Aurora is about to get even tighter as HondaJet Midwest, a sales and service representative for Honda Aircraft Co., announced last year that the Aurora airport will be home to HondaJet's Midwest Sales and Service facility.

The FAA is forecasting that nationwide, the drop in air traffic this year will be 8 percent to 20 percent across the board.

"That makes Aurora's 28 percent increase more like 38 percent," Zeman said. "That's impressive."