Three Key Aviation Pieces Add up to One Aviation Super Hub
12,803 Feet of Possibility
At Topeka Regional Airport, the sky is the limit as all the aviation pieces come together to create the perfect springboard for opportunity ahead.
Operated by the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority (MTAA), the airport is part of a three-part portfolio that includes Topeka Regional, Philip Billard Airport, and the sprawling Topeka Regional Business Center. Together, they form an aviation powerhouse that is ready for a new era of growth.
Filling out the Kansas Aerospace Triad with Salina and Wichita, Topeka is ideally positioned within a region that is quickly expanding its influence in global aviation.
The surrounding community combines a population of approximately 178,000 with strong higher education options, advanced manufacturing capacity, and a strategic location within both the national security and animal health corridors.
From large-scale hangar development and industrial park planning to workforce partnerships and efforts to restore commercial air service, Topeka Regional is focused on transforming its existing infrastructure into a top aviation hub for the Midwest.
“Four years ago, our board decided it was time to focus more intensely on wringing the economic value out of the aviation assets our community already has,” said Sam Sutton, 2026 MTAA Board Chair.
“We set about planning to upgrade our aeronautical facilities. We’ve been working to bring our roads and other infrastructure up to standard, and we are taking a fresh story to the world, to show people the amazing assets we’ve got.”
A Base Built for Scale
Topeka Regional lies about eight miles south of downtown Topeka. A redesignated Air Force base, it remains one of the more impressive aviation facilities in the state. Its primary runway measures 12,803 feet, the longest in Kansas, and is complemented by a crosswind runway of more than 7,000 feet.
The airfield offers approximately 2 million square feet of available apron space and roughly 444 acres of development-ready property. “For the right players, for the right combination of capital and demand and timing, we’ve got the seeds here for a thriving aerospace community,” notes Curtis S. Sneden, Director of Development for the Authority.
Central to this growth is an increased focus on maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). “There is a very acute demand for clear span hangars large enough to service wide body jets,” he explains. “Those hangers exist, but most of them are already occupied. The MRO industry continues to grow, so demand for this type of hanger is only growing more intense.”
To meet that need, the Authority recently finalized a long-term lease with DAVCON Aviation to construct an 80,000 square foot hangar on the Forbes Field apron. The total project cost is expected to be approximately $25 million, supported in part by a $10 million appropriation from the State of Kansas.
“DAVCON is so confident in the demand for this type of structure that they’re building it, even though they have yet to identify the end user,” says Sneden. “They can build the hangar and then present it to the market at rents that are feasible. The end user will get a good value, DAVCON will be able to make a fair profit, and the airport will receive a reasonable return for the taxpayers. The State of Kansas’ investment in Topeka’s growing aviation sector will have been well worth it.”
The new hangar is expected to be completed in late 2027. Once operational, the facility is projected to support hundreds of skilled aviation jobs and further strengthen Topeka’s position within the growing aerospace sector.
A Center of Aviation
Billard Airport presents a different kind of opportunity. “It is more of a boutique airfield over there,” notes Sneden. “It’s smaller, tucked away in the corner of town, but it has a passionate and entrepreneurial community of aviators.”
In 2024, a new terminal building and restaurant were added, and Top Aviation Services will soon introduce expanded flight training opportunities. Sneden expands, “One of our tenants has been teaching flying on the side. He has elected to invest in one of our buildings at Billard and create a new flight academy. He hopes to grow and that his academy will eventually be graduating over 50 new pilots each year. The entire aviation ecosystem will benefit from having more trained aviators here.”
The airport is also home to Technical Applications and Consulting, known as TAC, a firm specializing in providing airborne remote sensing, mapping, and geospatial products and services for its clients. Using sophisticated equipment, like LIDAR, its aircraft collect data for government and commercial clients across the continental United States.
“TAC is also our MRO provider at Billard. They want to expand and set up a training center for airframe and power plant mechanics. We’re trying to facilitate that for TAC by connecting them with our local technical school, Washburn Tech, so that, working together, they can start producing a stream of A&P mechanics who will fill the needs of aeronautical firms at Forbes and Billard and enjoy lucrative careers in the process.”
Upgrades at Billard include a new fuel farm with self-service capability, improved access roads, fiber conduit installation for future high-speed connectivity, and completion of an eight-foot perimeter security fence topped with barbed wire. “By putting that fence in, we create a secured operating environment which enables data-intensive firms like TAC and others to start competing for more sensitive types of contracts, for example, with the Department of Defense,” Sneden says.
“I’m particularly proud of Billard Airport,” he continues. “The opportunities at Forbes are bigger, but they’re going to take longer. The opportunities at Billard are lower-hanging fruit that I think we’ll be able to seize in the next couple of years.”
Selling a Vision
Adjacent to Topeka Regional’s Forbes Field, the Topeka Regional Business Center contains hundreds of acres of shovel-ready industrial property. Like the airport itself, the business center is not subject to property tax. “When a developer plays that out, they see what a powerful incentive that is over time,” describes Sneden, “and it’s not something they have to negotiate or fight for. It’s simply inherent to doing business with us.”
As it markets this acreage, the Authority is developing a clear vision of what future development could look like, including cyber, industrial, and research campuses tailored to specific sectors. “We think this will turn what is basically a vast piece of real estate into a story that we can sell,” he affirms.
“We’re going to be flexible about it; we won’t be turning good tenants away because they don’t fit a given profile here. This isn’t zoning, it’s just a way of talking about what we’ve got, so that it makes sense to that business owner or developer.”
Aligned for Lift Off
Although Topeka Regional does not currently host scheduled commercial passenger service, efforts are underway to change that. United Airlines briefly served the market a decade ago, and restoring commercial service remains a high priority.
“To win commercial air service, several factors have to line up,” said Eric M. Johnson, President and Director of Airports for the MTAA. “We do have a great deal going for us,” he added. “Our terminal is ready. We have the demand. If we could capture just a fraction of the people who currently drive from Topeka to the airport in Kansas City, we could easily fill a regional airliner once or twice a day. The population is here, the travel is here, the demand is here. In addition, local government and corporate leaders have stepped up to pledge several million toward an airline deal. So we have the community’s support. Armed with all of that, we are in discussions right now with several airlines that find us to be a very interesting and plausible possibility,” Johnson said.
As it looks to the future, alignment among regional partners is one of MTAA’s defining advantages. Sneden highlights strong relationships with the Shawnee County’s economic development arm, GO Topeka, as well as state officials, military partners, and local educational institutions. “I’m really proud of what we have here in Topeka,” he says. “We have worked hard over the last 10 or 15 years to break down silos and make sure that the important change agents are all pointed in the same direction and have a clear line of sight with one another.”
With multiple initiatives underway and additional projects in development, the future is promising.
“Perhaps as never before, it feels like all our engines are at full throttle and we are approaching lift-off,” he concludes.
“It won’t be long before the aviation world understands why we like to say Topeka has 12,803 feet of possibility and 444 acres of opportunity.”
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AT A GLANCE
Who: Topeka Regional Airport
What: A full-service regional airport and development hub
Where: Topeka, Kansas
Website: www.mtaa-topeka.org
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