The Iberia Parish Council discussed funding options for the Acadiana Regional Airport Wednesday. 

Chairman of the Iberia Parish Airport Authority Pat Norris addressed the Iberia Parish Council Wednesday evening to request funding for additional hangars at the Acadiana Regional Airport.

According to Norris, the airport has been a victim of its own success with a constant waiting list from aircraft pilots who wish to put their planes at the airport.

“As long as I’ve been on the board, we’ve always maxed out our hangar capacity,” Norris said. “We constantly have a waiting list for up to 12 to 14 planes looking for a hangar and we just don’t have it.”

Although the airport does do business with many in the area, Norris said there are also people from out of town who see Iberia Parish as a strategic location for their business and become interested in the Acadiana Regional Airport.

With the expansion of the New Iberia Research Center near the airport, Norris said the new biopharmaceutical economy could add even more stress on the airport’s waiting list.

After asking engineers for an estimate, Norris said the airport would ideally want a 12,000 square feet hangar that could accommodate a Gulfstream V aircraft as well as three additional hangars.

“We want to get aggressive with it, we’re reiterating we need some additional hangars to move this airport forward,” Norris said.

Iberia Parish President Larry Richard agreed that with the new business opportunities and infrastructure improvements near the airport, adding improvements to the Acadiana Regional Airport seemed like a smart choice.

After asking Norris if the parish could work with the state delegation in order to get capital outlay funding for the IPAA, Norris said the only concern would be the length of time that would take as well as the other priority projects the airport authority already has filed for state funding.

“We need these hangars yesterday, the more we go back to the state they want to prioritize everything and we have other things that have been there for two to three years,” Norris said.

The request for funding is expected to be discussed at a future meeting.