Charter airlines valuable to Camarillo
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

The rising profits of private jet charter companies bodes well for the Camarillo Airport and the local economy.

According to Todd McNamee, Ventura County's director of airports, the local airport injects nearly $100 million a year into Camarillo and the surrounding cities. That money is driven in large part by private jet charter companies such as Sun Air Jets, Avantair and Channel Islands Aviation who have made Camarillo their home.

Camarillo and Oxnard airports, both owned by the county and run in joint cooperation between a local airport authority and the board of supervisors, operate on a $6.2 million annual budget.

McNamee said that because the 650-acre Camarillo Airport is nearly three times larger than Oxnard, its budget is some $4 million a year.

The airports generate a lion's share of their revenue from leasing hangars and buildings to the nearly 40 companies based at the airport.

The airport is also home to a continuation high school, a church, a community theater, a café, the Ventura County Sheriff 's Department's air unit and training academy, as well as the headquarters for the county fire department.

Local chapters of the Experimental Aircraft Association and the Commemorative Air Force are also based out of the airport.

McNamee said the three private jet charter companies are considered anchor tenants and a big reason why the Camarillo Airport operates in the black each year.

The 31-year-old airport balances the fine line of remaining a small, convenient airfield for private pilots while also serving a growing population of businesses looking to take advantage of private jet charters, McNamee said.

"It's the growth in the community that drives the growth at the airport," he said.

Concern over the airport's growth has been a sticky subject with surrounding homes.

Last month, the Camarillo City Council approved a safety and noise study to examine the impact the airport may have on the proposed Springville development, a 1,300-home housing community less than a mile from the airfield.

"We try to do a lot of community outreach to minimize the impact of the airport on the surrounding community," McNamee said.

Recently, the community voiced concern that the airport's expansion would include scheduled commercial flights.

McNamee said, however, that when the county took over the airport from the U.S. Department of Defense in the mid 1970s, a provision was set that prevents Camarillo from becoming a commercial airport.

United Express uses Oxnard Airport for regional flights.

Executives at both Sun Air and Avantair praised Camarillo Airport officials for their management of the airport, noting that the county's handling of the small airfield was one of the main reasons why they established businesses in Camarillo.

"I think that Ventura County airports department has done an extremely good job of balancing the needs of business as well as the people that live around here," said Steve Lassetter, president of Sun Air Jets.

See related article on local jet charter businesses on page 1.