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Dozens of citizens and aviation leaders held a ceremony Monday morning at Bartlesville Municipal Airport to celebrate the completion of 1,300 feet of new taxiway and the groundbreaking of a new 20,000-square-foot hanger.

The two projects will combine to assist Bartlesville's plans to become a maintenance and repair operations hub for private airplanes and business jets.

Grayson Ardies, the executive director of the Oklahoma Aerospace and Aeronautics Commission, says this is a big day for not only Bartlesville, but the entire region.

The Oklahoma Aerospace and Aeronautics Commission approved a $2 million grant in July to assist in constructing a 120-foot by 130-foot box hanger at the airport. The total cost of the program is just over $5 million, with $3 million of the cost coming from the Bartlesville Development Authority.

“We’re very proud of the progress and upcoming plans made here at Bartlesville Municipal,” said Chris Batchelder, BDA vice president of Business Development. “It’s more than fresh pavement and a new building. It represents additions to the workforce here at the airport and at surrounding businesses that support airport employees and outside businesses that travel into Bartlesville.”

The taxiway was completed in May. Funds for the $2 million project came from a $1.18 million grant from the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics, a $737,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, and $101,306 from the City’s Airport Fund.

“We’re thankful for the Oklahoma Legislature, the ODAA and the BDA for their continued support,” said Mike Richardson, Bartlesville airport director. “We’re excited to continue making these projects possible and seeing where this growth will take us in the future.”

A contract with Koehn Construction Services for the hangar construction was approved by the Bartlesville City Council in early August 2025. The project construction could officially start as soon as fall 2025 and be completed by the summer of 2026.

Bartlesville Municipal Airport sits on about 430 acres in northwest Bartlesville within the Osage County line, about three miles west of the city’s downtown area. The public airport features a concrete runway that measures 6,850 feet long by 100 feet wide. Open 24/7 for aircraft takeoffs and landings, the property hosts a Fixed-Base Operator to provide a full range of services to both transient and local business including aircraft fueling, towing, hangar storage, flight crew vehicles, restrooms, passenger and flight crew lounge areas, weather and flight planning.

Bartlesville Municipal Airport is home base to around 50 aircraft and sees about 12,000 takeoffs and landings annually.