Global Flight Training Solutions, which has been operating a flight school at Immokalee Regional Airport since 2019, broke ground last week on a second set of business jet storage hangars at the airport to meet growing demand.
Victor Costello, founder and CEO of GFTS, said the flight school completed its first set of hangars at the regional airport earlier this year and expects to have the next four hangars, adding 40,000 square feet, completed by June 2025.
Costello, a former airline pilot who did his flight training in Naples 20 years ago, did his first solo flight from Immokalee Regional Airport and said he feels a strong connection to the airport and the community.
“We’re very proud to be there, and we’re very committed to the community,” Costello said. “We hire people from the community and the county, so we’re very proud of our relationships that allow us to grow into opportunities like business jet storage.”
The flight school currently employs 15 people and has trained more than 200 pilots since 2019. Business jet storage facilities include hangar space for small, medium and large corporate/private jets and light aircraft and includes facilities for light maintenance of aircraft on–site.
Demand growing for jet storage
Costello said Immokalee Regional Airport, like other small airports in Florida, is seeing increased demand for jet storage since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We saw jet purchasing increase, and we want to be part of the solution for the aviation industry,” Costello said. “And we see that in business jet storage and light aircraft maintenance and management in the future.”
Immokalee Regional Airport Operations Manager Nick Rossdale said many general aviation airports in South Florida that can accommodate business jet traffic have seen growing demand for jet storage.
“Increased jet storage capacity at the Immokalee Regional Airport allows us to better serve the aviation community and offers an ideal location for both corporate/business travelers and recreational pilots looking to access south-central Florida,” Rossdale said. “We are hopeful that jet traffic in general lends itself to greater revenue-producing opportunities for the airport and the surrounding community.”
Rossdale said IMM has seen business jet traffic increase since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also led to the airport seeing record jet fuel sales.
“At IMM, we have experienced a consistent year-over-year increase in jet traffic since the end of the pandemic,” Rossdale said. “As of the beginning of August—with more than a month remaining in our budget cycle—we had already sold more jet fuel than the previous fiscal year where we experienced record sales figures. This growth is a testament to the airport’s increasing popularity as a destination for corporate and private aviation.”
Regarding aircraft operations involving jet turbine engines, Rossdale said IMM had 2,191 landings/takeoffs over the past 12 months and 1,721 from August 2022 to July 2024, an increase of 470 jet turbine engine operations or 27.3%. Total operations of all aircraft types over the same two 12-month time periods are 58,546 and 46,257, respectively.
Jet fuel sales in gallons from over the last year at IMM totaled 107,128 compared to 104,991 from the previous year, 2% increase, Rossdale said, and Jet A fuel sales are up 2% from the same period last year.
Costello said GFTS plans to continue growing at IMM, anticipating an additional 12 hangars in the future that would accommodate larger jets. He said the company also plans to expand services, including more advanced maintenance aircraft, as its growth at the airport continues.
