Gary Vacin

The past, present, and future of the Chandler Municipal Airport will be the topic of a presentation to the Sun Lakes Aero Club (SLAC) gathering Monday, Jan. 20, at the Sun Lakes Country Club Navajo Room. The speaker will be Chris Andres, airport administrator.

The event begins with coffee and camaraderie at 6:30 p.m., followed by the presentation at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

The airport dates back to March, 2, 1928, at a site south of what is now the 202 freeway, between Arizona Avenue and Alma School Road. A year later, town officials relocated it to the area of today’s Tumbleweed Park.

In 1947, the city decided to revive the little airport, purchasing land that developed into today’s airport. Today, with more than 200,000 operations per year, it is among the nation’s busiest general aviation airports.

In the past, the airport has mainly served as a training facility for student pilots or a site for recreational fliers. Looking to the future, Andres said the city wants to diversify its portfolio by pursuing corporate fliers needing a runway to land their private jets.

Andres will devote much of his presentation on plans for future development of the airport.

Andres has been airport administrator since March, 2005. In his role, he oversees a staff of six and the day-to-day operations of the airport. Before joining Chandler, Andres worked for the City of Phoenix for almost 15 years in business development and planning roles for their Economic Development, Downtown Development, and Aviation departments.

For additional information on the club, contact Cannon Hill at 509-539-7857, Gary Vacin at 480-298-7017, or view the club’s website, sunlakesaeroclub.org.