Despite the recent dire news regarding Puerto Rico’s economy, the Caribbean island is still very much open for business. And come this fall it will be the site of a brand new $6 million FBO. The operators of Pazos FBO (Booth Z029), one of two service providers at San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (LMM), chose to present their new facility here at EBACE to demonstrate their investment and commitment to the region.
The 12,500-square-foot (1,161-square-meter) terminal will more than double the size of the facility Pazos has occupied since it moved from Isla Grande Airport to LMM in 2002. It will feature an onsite full-service U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, making it the only FBO in the Caribbean to offer such service, in-house. It will be available 24/7 with a one-hour notification, and will handle all general aviation operations at the airport, which was recently privatized. “This enhances the airport’s already strategic importance as the first U.S. port of entry southeast of the United States,” said Pazos president Jose Maldonado.
The glass-sheathed, two-story building will offer continuous views of the ramp and runway, and will include a luxury passenger lounge, concierge service, a pilot’s lounge with snooze rooms and shower facilities, a 15-seat a/v-equipped conference room, on-site limousine service, car rental and a canopy-covered aircraft arrival area.
After the opening of the new terminal, the company will break ground on a new 22,000-sq-ft (2,044-sq-m) hangar capable of sheltering aircraft up to a Boeing 737-800. The new structure will bring the facility’s hangar space up to 30,000 sq ft (2,787 sq m), and support its maintenance capabilities. Over the past year, as part of the construction project, the company added 150,000 sq ft (13,935 sq m) of ramp, for a total of 240,000 sq ft (22,297 sq m). “The expansion will further support the airport’s general aviation operation, already the busiest in the Caribbean,” noted Maldonado. Based on its capital improvements, the company recently negotiated a 20-year extension to its lease.
A member of the World Fuel Services’ Air Elite network since 2013, Pazos conducts all the fueling at the airport, with an annual flowage of approximately 7 million gallons, pumped from the airport’s newly installed fuel farm, which was supplied by World Fuel.
