There is good news coming to the list of 14 waiting for hangar space at the Iberia Airport as part of a $60 million project.

The Iberia Airport authority is vying to allow international commercial trade at the Acadiana Regional Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires that all aircraft landing in the U.S. adhere to a strict sound-level of Stage-3 or lower which is 89-106 decibels.

Currently, the only airport which allows planes exceeding this value to land is in Miami, which allows them to monopolize on incoming international air trade. Many other countries don’t have a similar aircraft requirement, so many commercial international aircraft can’t land in the U.S.

This is just one in a series of efforts to bring revenue into the airport. The authority also partnered with AvEx to offer renovations to retired Boeing 757 passenger aircraft into cargo planes. The total cost estimate to fully establish the project is over $60 million.

AvEx primarily offer fusillade painting services, but totally expanded their services for the project. To prepare a plane for cargo use, they first strip the internal hull and engines, install a side access door, establish a system for moving and securing cargo and give the planes a new coat of paint.

According to Iberia Airport Authority Director Maurice Songy, the airport authority is always seeking federal and state grants otherwise the airport couldn’t generate profits to invest back into itself.

“The more grants I can get that we don’t have to take on any debts to build, the more profit we make. Everything we make here stays here at the airport,” Songy said.

General care for the airport is an incredible cost alone, as right now, they need over $160,000 to acquire a new tractor and pickup truck necessary for care and day-to-day operations. That money came from their operational budget, but they don’t always have funds available in the budget.

All of the private and commercial hangars at the airport are currently full, so construction of a set of new hangars is an ongoing effort. Iberia Parish gave the airport $930,000 to install three 45×42-foot hangars specifically designed for small, private, single-prop-planes. Currently, the airport has a waitist of 14 people looking to acquire hangar space.

The FAA sets a life expectancy on each project and piece of equipment they fund. If that part breaks or fails before the life expectancy runs out, the FAA won’t pay to fix or replace it. Before starting a project, the FAA requires grant assurances, which requires the airport to follow certain rules or fulfill certain requirements throughout the project. If expectations of the grant assurance aren’t fulfilled, the FAA could require the airport to pay the project back in full plus a fine.

Therefore, construction of these hangars, alongside any airport project, is highly specialized compared to general construction projects. For instance, the pavement for the hangars needs to be 12 or 13 inches deep to accommodate the weight of planes and the hangar. This specialization radically drives the cost up.

Recent economic factors also dramatically raised the price for the project. The airport completed an identical set of hangars in 2013, but it only cost them $500,000, a far cry from the nearly million dollar price estimate on the new hangars.