Roosevelt Roads Aviation Services leases Ceiba airport facility for new MRO
Roosevelt Roads Aviation Services, LLC has signed a 10-year lease agreement with the Puerto Rico Ports Authority to establish an aircraft maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) facility at the José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Ceiba.
The agreement also includes Fixed Base Operation (FBO) services, as well as the sale and dispatch of aircraft fuel. Ports will receive $0.02 per gallon of fuel stored at the facility, Ports Authority Executive Director Joel Pizá confirmed.
The private firm will lease a 52,000 square-foot hangar and another 55,000 square feet of open space at the airport, for $6,000 a month.
The company will be responsible for making the necessary repairs to the infrastructure of Hangar #200, which are estimated at more than $250,000, without any type of credit against the rent. Similarly, the private operator will repair Walkway E, at an approximate cost of $500,000, Pizá said.
The new tenant will join three other companies currently operating out of the Ceiba airport: Arlet Aviation, Modern Aviation y LM Servicies Aviation.
“These new operations are in line with the development plan put in place to maximize the use of regional airports, as well as maximize our assets. This shows the great interest of the industry and the potential of this airport for general aviation,” said Pizá.
Currently, the Ceiba airport has three airlines that operate flights to the island municipalities of Culebra and Vieques, namely, Air Flamenco, which has five flights to Culebra from Monday to Saturday, Vieques Air Link, with three flights to Culebra and eight to Vieques, seven days a week, and Air Taxi and MN Aviation, operating through charter flights.
According to Puerto Rico Ports Authority statistics for fiscal year 2021-2022, the Ceiba airport had a traffic of about 76,820 passengers.
Last year, the José Aponte de la Torre Airport inaugurated its taxiway, which was the result of a $3.7 million investment in federal funds. Now, access roads to the former Roosevelt Roads Naval base are being asphalted through an agreement with the mayor of Ceiba, Samuel Rivera-Báez, from the intersection of PR-3 to the Los Machos intersection, and others in the rest of the areas near the airport, which will be finished in December, said Gov. Pedro Pierluisi during a news conference at the airport.
He added that “we’re ready to award the contract for the development and operation of the old marina. This project includes the expansion of the marina, including dry stack and entertainment areas, the construction of a hotel and a residential area.”
