A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Salina Regional Airport (KSLN) in Kansas has completed a renovation of the northernmost section of its primary 12,300-foot Runway 17/35. The $1,782,000 project that began on April 4 saw the milling of the 4,800-foot portion and the overlaying of a 2.5-inch layer of new asphalt. The runway&nbsp;was closed during that period and reopened for operations last week.

 


The work was funded by the Kansas DOT and the airport authority, and&nbsp;a similar process will begin on the southern 7,500 feet of 17/35 beginning July 1, according to airport executive director Timothy Rogers. Thus, the&nbsp;runway will be closed again from July 1&nbsp;until September&nbsp;7 for the $4.3 million FAA AIP-funded project, which will also include drainage improvements.

 


The airport, served by the lone Avflight FBO, is a popular tech stop for transcontinental flights, handling more than 90,000 operations over the past year.&nbsp;Pilots using the Salina Airport are reminded to check KSLN notams&nbsp;for details concerning all airfield maintenance and construction activity.

 


“Salina will be busy with airport infrastructure projects for the next five years,” Rogers told AIN. “Future projects made possible by bipartisan infrastructure legislation grant funding for airports include the resurfacing of 6,510-foot Runway 12/30, construction of a new 202,000-gallon fuel farm, and the expansion of the airport terminal building parking lot.”

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Salina Airport Reopens Main Runway 

Salina Regional Airport in Kansas has completed a renovation of the northernmost section of its primary 12,300-foot Runway 17/35.

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