With Port City Air, the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease has one current supplier of airplane fuel, baggage handling, aircraft maintenance and other aeronautic services of a fixed base operator (FBO).
There’s a second FBO proposal on the table for the airport at the Pease International Tradeport — one from Million Air, a Dallas-Texas based company with FBOs across the country.
Now there’s a third — from Steve Duprey, who chairs the Pease Development Authority (PDA) board of directors, which approves and oversees development at the tradeport and airport.
He has asked the PDA staff to determine whether it is feasible for the authority to run its own FBO at its own airport, thereby competing with other FBOs that it has already contracted with (Port City) or FBOs that it would consider for approval in the future (such as Million Air).
“Obviously, it’s one of those things that you have to consider very carefully, but it just seems to make common sense,” said Duprey in a Sept. 19 interview. “It would give us a greater degree of assurance that we had a range of options for people who use FBOs.”
And he doesn’t see any potential conflict with the authority running an FBO while also approving and overseeing future and current FBOs.
“That’s an argument from someone who wants to keep their monopoly,” said Duprey. “Technically under the FAA rules, if five FBO is wanted to locate there, as long as they meet the regulations and meet our land use, they’re entitled to it. We can’t say no.”
His sentiment about multiple FBOs, including one possibly operated by the authority, was underscored by PDA Executive Director Paul Brean.
“An FBO provides a broad range of aeronautical services at an airport, including such things as hangaring, ground handling, fueling, and aircraft maintenance services,” said Brean on Sept. 20. “FBO services may be offered by an airport sponsor, such as the PDA, and/or by private entities granted permission to operate on the airfield by the airport sponsor.”
“At the request of the PDA Board, my staff and I are reviewing whether it makes economic sense for the PDA to provide some FBO services to the flying public at Pease,” Brean added. “As the airport sponsor and operator, I do believe it is always a good idea to consider economic development and future revenue streams, as ultimately it is critical to the long-term viability of the airport that the PDA generate aeronautical revenue.”
Monopoly not ‘a good idea for anyone’
For years, the airport at Pease has had a single FBO: Port City Air. By definition, an FBO offers all the services common to an airport – fuel, baggage handling, etc. At Pease, because it is also a New Hampshire Air Guard base frequently used by military and military-contracted planes, Port City also has the government fuel contract, which comes up for renewal every three years.
“I don’t think there’s anybody on the Pease Development Authority or any governor we’ve had the last 20 years who thinks that a monopoly is a good idea for anyone,” said Duprey. “So competition is good. Clearly, Governor Sununu likes competition in all sectors.”
Duprey is a developer whose Duprey Companies includes the operation of four hotels, the Grappone Conference Center in Concord, Foxfire Property Management and Facilitech Facilities Services.
He was appointed by Gov. Christopher Sununu in March 2022 as chair of the PDA board of directors, replacing Kevin Smith, who resigned as PDA chair in February 2022, as well as his job as town manager in Londonderry, to campaign (unsuccessfully, it turned out) as a Republican for the U.S. Senate.
Duprey has moved in the GOP sphere for many years, and is a longtime friend of the Sununu family as a former state legislator and former New Hampshire Republican National Committeeman.
The PDA oversees the airport in Portsmouth, the Pease International Tradeport, Skyhaven Airport in Rochester, and ports and harbors in Portsmouth, Rye, and Hampton.
The PDA’s creation as a public entity arose from the closing in 1991 of what had been a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base for the U.S. Air Force.
With a developer’s eye, he considered how an authority-run FBO might financially benefit the authority-run airport and better serve those entities that use the airport, which, in addition to the NH’s Air Guard’s 157th Air Fueling Wing, also includes commercial carrier Allegiant Airlines, PlaneSense (a fractional airplane ownership company), flight school CHI, and a number of general aviation and corporate airplanes.
Airport updates
The authority has recently embarked on another phase of improvements to the airport terminal, which includes better areas for check-in, baggage retrieval, a second passenger boarding bridge, improved/eco-friendly lighting, and an expanded/improved security screening area.
“Why aren’t we considering running an FBO?” Duprey asked himself.
“Number one, we’re running an airport. We certainly know how to run airports. Number two, we’ve got a major airline passenger terminal operation,” said Duprey. “We have an executive director and team that knows how to run airports. Why not make sure that we are guaranteed to have the service level we want instead of dealing with a tenant who has a lease from us?”
The idea of an airport-run FBO is not unique, according to Duprey. The FBO at the city-run Bangor International Airport in Bangor, Maine, is the city-run BGR Aviation.
“I think there’s a strong inclination at this point for us to be in this business. It’s not like it’s a new business. It’s what we do,” he said. “We have a substantial balance sheet. We have probably more access to capital than many other private groups, so it would be a mistake not to look carefully at the option.”
Duprey believes there is enough opportunity at Pease to support three or four FBOs.
The only other additional FBO under active review at Pease is the Million Air proposal (https://peasedev.org/pease-aviation-partners-llc/). The PDA board has not taken a vote yet on the application.
Million Air proposes to build its facility at 53 Exeter St. — next door to Port City Air — on 2.65 acres it would lease from the PDA.
Port City Air opposes the application, as do some individuals and groups in the Seacoast area, citing concerns about wetlands, particularly in the area where Million Air proposes its fuel farm.
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