As the Vicksburg Tallulah Regional Airport looks to add more hangar space due to demand, Vicksburg residents are also pushing for the Vicksburg Municipal Airport to build its own shelters for private planes.

&#8220There’s not enough hangar space down there,” said Philip Lawson, a Vicksburg resident who owns Lawson’s Aviation Services Inc., a charter service out of Vicksburg Municipal. &#8220I’d definitely put my plane in a hangar if there was space.”

Lawson, who has run the charter service at the airport on U.S. 61 South for 15 years, said the airport is losing clientele to other airports, like VTR, that have hangars.

&#8220We’ve got people here in town that are putting their airplanes in Raymond or Jackson because they can’t find one here,” Lawson said. &#8220We’re running people off.”

Basic maintenance was performed at the 55-year-old airport during years of litigation following a 2-1 city board vote in 1998 to close the city facility in favor of the regional airport at Mound, owned by four local governments. However, a $650,000 state grant for runway improvement and selection of a seven-member board to manage the facility have given it a more solid future.

&#8220There is a lot of demand for hangar space and building hangar space is definitely something we want to do,” said Jay Kilroy, secretary of the Vicksburg Municipal Airport Board.

He said board members have been approached by a couple of pilots who are interested in renting hangar space.

Kilroy said there is only one hangar with space available and it is owned by Ernest Thomas, who owns the building and leases the land from the airport.

When completed in 1993, VTR included T-shaped hangar buildings for rental. Manager Randy Woods said the airport has 11 hangars, which are all leased, and a hangar waiting list of about six people.

&#8220T-hangars are gold,” he said.

He said most of the airplanes stored at VTR are single engine, six seater planes.

&#8220Each T-hangar is a separate hangar for that airplane and the owner has a key,” Woods said.

&#8220We’re looking to build more,” Woods said.

Lawson said people are willing to pay for secure housing for their airplanes, because of the investment they put in them.

&#8220Some of these airplanes cost half a million (dollars) so you need to really protect them,” he said.

Lawson said last year some of the airplanes kept outside at Vicksburg Municipal were damaged during a hail storm.

&#8220If there were 20 hangars down there they’d be gone in 90 days,” he said. &#8220If we had hangars it would get people to come and invest.”