Gabreski Airport getting $7.5M overhaul

In the aviation business in the metropolitan area -- where some of the world's largest airports are located -- tiny Francis S. Gabreski Airport in the village of Westhampton Beach has never gotten much respect.

But that may change. Suffolk County-owned Gabreski is about to undergo the biggest renovation since it opened as a military airport after America entered World War II.

Racanelli Construction Co. of Melville has been hired by Sheltair West Hampton Llc, a fixed-based operator at Gabreski, to demolish a one-story building and replace it with a 5,000-square-foot, one-story flight base office and a 20,000-square-foot hangar with space for tenants.

Racanelli also will relocate a fuel farm at the site to another location at the airport. Additionally, new runway-taxiway lighting, as well as parking lighting, will be added, along with new landscaping, and irrigation, storm and sanitary systems.

Anthony Ceglio, the airport manager, said the $7.5-million project is the largest private investment in Gabreski's history.

For years, Ceglio said, Gabreski -- named after the World War II flying ace who later became president of the Long Island Rail Road -- has had difficulty handling the approximately 90,000 takeoffs and landings a year that take place there. "We had to jam planes" into parking and hangar spaces, Ceglio said. The need for upgrading Gabreski was first identified by the county a decade ago, Ceglio said.

Michael Racanelli, the construction company's vice president, said he hoped most of the work will be completed by Memorial Day.

In a statement, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said, "By working with the local community, we have been able to enhance economic development at the airport without increasing air traffic."

Gabreski caters to corporate jets and small, private airplanes that fly passengers to the Hamptons from New York City and elsewhere. No commercial airlines operate scheduled flights at Gabreski, and the renovation is not intended to attract any, Ceglio said.

"We are basically a seasonal airport," Ceglio said. "It's just that we get our share of [air] traffic in the summer."

LI's largest airports
Long Island MacArthur, Bohemia, 1,311 acres,four runways
Largest commercial operator: Southwest Airlines

Republic Airport, East Farmingdale, 526 acres, two runways
Corporate and general aviation airport; no scheduled commercial flights

Francis S. Gabreski, Westhampton Beach, 1,452 acres, three runways
Corporate and general aviation airport; no scheduled commercial flights