Airport Control Tower Activation Set

Sonny Allen
Public Information Officer

151 SE Osceola Ave.
Ocala, FL 34471

Phone: (352) 401-3978
Fax: (352) 629-8391

OCALA, Fla. (May 11, 2009) The Ocala International Airport’s air traffic control tower will begin operations on May 17.

The tower, 1700 SW 60th Ave., will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. The tower will be staffed by six Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. Air Traffic Manager Burt Willis will head the local tower operations.

Controllers will rely on visual observation to exchange traffic pattern information as the tower does not have a radar display. The tower’s radio frequency is 119.25.

“We look forward to working with the aviation community providing the high level of (air traffic control) service that everyone is accustomed to in the Ocala area,” Willis wrote in a letter announcing the tower’s operational opening.

Construction of the tower was completed last December. The Florida Department of Transportation provided $1.95 million of the $2.43 million cost with the City providing the balance.

The tower not only will improve safety, it will be an added incentive in the recruitment of companies with corporate aircraft. Of the 5,190 public access airports across the country, less than 10 percent have an air traffic control tower.

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