A big celebration was held for an unusual event yesterday, the grand opening of a new general aviation airfield, Austin Executive Airport (KEDC), and the airport’s FBO, Henriksen Jet Center. Hundreds of people celebrated, congratulating businessman Ron Henriksen on his $33 million investment in the Austin, Texas aviation infrastructure, which has lacked suitable facilities since closure of the downtown Mueller Airport and Austin Executive Airpark. Henriksen also built a new GA airport in West Houston, the Houston Executive Airport in 2007. His newest facility, also self-funded with no government money, includes a 6,025-foot runway, 27,500-sq-ft FBO terminal with a 140- by 85-foot arrival canopy and a 29,000-sq-ft hangar. New T-hangars are already full, and there is a waiting list for the next phase of construction. Austin Executive is about 15 miles northeast of downtown Austin. Asked why he bought the facility (the former Bird’s Nest Airport), Henriksen said, “It was a great opportunity.” Austin was the sole top 100 city in the U.S. that had only one airport–Austin-Bergstrom, primarily a commercial airport–he said. “This city has needed a second airport for at least 10 years.”