What Does It Take To Open a New Airport?

Photo by Briana Tozour on Unsplash

Building an airport takes a lot more than the construction of runways and a passenger terminal. An airport must fulfill stringent government safety regulations before it can serve commercial airlines. The new McKinney National Airport (DTX), the first new airport in Texas in over 20 years, offers a good case study for the challenge of opening an airport.

McKinney National Airport received a Part 139 Airport Operating Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in September 2026, allowing future commercial passenger airplane operations. For the first time since 2005, an airport in Texas has been granted an Airport Operating Certificate, and this certificate is the necessary regulatory challenge for opening an airport.

What is required to obtain the certificate, then? Under 14 CFR Part 139, airport operators are required to prove compliance with the appropriate FAA regulations. First, new airports must apply to the relevant FAA regional office. The airport must then prepare an Airport Certification Manual (ACM) outlining the airport's compliance with federal safety rules.

After reviewing the application and any accompanying documentation, the FAA may do a thorough airport inspection. Runway and taxiway conditions, pavement markings, lighting, signs, emergency protocols, aircraft rescue and firefighting capabilities, animal hazard management, fueling facilities, and personnel training are just a few of the areas that inspectors look at.

After confirming that the application, supporting documentation, and airport operations adhere to Part 139, the FAA grants the Airport Operating Certificate. McKinney National needed to build a taxiway and modernize its federal contract tower, among other major infrastructure projects, before it could obtain its certificate. According to the FAA, renovations at the airport cost more than $9 million.

The certificate is more than just documentation for pilots and passengers. It proves that a new airport has fulfilled the federal safety requirements needed to join the country's commercial aviation network.