Cutter Inaugurates Colorado FBO

Cutter Aviation held the grand opening for its new FBO at Colorado’s Colorado Springs Municipal Airport last week. At 9,300 square feet, the $3.5 million terminal is more than double the size of the one the company had been operating from since 2006, when it purchased the former Colorado Springs Aviation FBO. The new structure is furnished in the mountain-lodge style, with timber and stone inside and out, and includes a pilots' lounge, snooze room, 12-seat A/V-equipped conference room, covered porte-cochere, and patios offering spectacular views of nearby Pikes Peak.

The family-owned business also added a $600,000 fuel farm (50,000 gallons of jet-A, 12,000 gallons avgas) and will decommission the old storage unit later this year. Last year, Cutter acquired a 23,000-square-foot hangar from the city of Colorado Springs, capable of sheltering aircraft up to the size of a 737-400, bringing the location up to 33,000 square feet of hangar space. In September, the company expects to complete a 60,000-square-foot hangar that will be occupied entirely by a single tenant. The expansion increases Cutter's footprint at the airport from nine acres to 19, and as part of the agreement with the airport, it will add another 20,000-square-foot hangar over the next several years.

According to Cutter CFO Steve Prieser, the new terminal will cater to business jets and turboprops, while a separate facility that includes the older 2,000-square-foot terminal, attached to a 10,000-square-foot hangar, will be reserved for lighter GA use.