Hangar door height is set by the tail of the aircraft, not by the building. A hangar is a very large door with a clear-span room behind it, and the aircraft, the door type and the floor loading define almost everything else. Las Cruces International Airport, nine miles west of downtown, has three runways, about 40 box hangars and about a dozen T-hangars, and the Dona Ana County International Jetport near Santa Teresa has a 9,550 foot runway and 130 based aircraft. We build hangars at both.
Hangar projects start with the aircraft list. Wingspan, tail height, weight and the number of aircraft sets the door opening, the clear span and the slab thickness. A single-engine plane fits a box hangar; a business jet needs a hangar with a taller, wider door; a maintenance hangar needs space around the aircraft for tools, lifts and workers. We help owners decide how much space they need and how much they can afford.
Hangars can be built as steel frames, as pre-engineered metal buildings, or as tilt-wall structures for larger facilities. Metal buildings are the most common, and we work with manufacturers to supply the clear-span frames, the door framing and the fire suppression the occupancy requires.
Any building near a public airport can affect protected airspace. Before construction starts, the owner files a notice with the FAA that covers the building height and the crane height, and the airport sponsor reviews the layout against its development plan. We prepare the information the notice needs and keep the crane and the building under the heights it approves.
The structure itself follows the 2021 New Mexico Commercial Building Code, which adopts the 2021 International Building Code as amended. Hangars carry specific fire protection requirements based on their size and use, and many require foam or high-expansion foam suppression for large aircraft. The electrical design follows the 2020 New Mexico Electrical Code, with attention to classified areas where fuel may be present.
The frame is a clear-span structure, 80 to 200 feet wide, with no columns in the work area. The door is the signature element: bifold, hydraulic, sliding or fabric, each with different cost, speed and wind behavior. Hangar doors catch the wind like a sail, so the door tracks, the frame around the door and the foundation at the sill are designed for large loads. See our high-bay and crane-ready buildings work for how we handle tall frames and overhead equipment.
The floor is a thick slab with an edge detail at the door and a finish that tolerates fuel and hydraulic fluid. In maintenance hangars, we add trench drains, floor tie-down points, compressed air and ventilation. Sealed concrete or an epoxy coating makes the floor easy to clean.
Construction at an airport follows the airport's rules about access, vehicles, lighting and foreign object debris. Workers need badges, vehicles need to stay out of the movement area, and loose material has to be secured so it does not blow onto a taxiway. We brief every crew member on those rules and assign a coordinator to the airport operator.
Utility availability matters too. A report from March 2021 said utilities, lighting and taxiways were being extended on the east side of Las Cruces International Airport to support hangar development, and that five miles of eight-foot perimeter fence had been completed. We confirm what is in place on any ramp parcel and extend site utilities as needed.
The airport's master plan update, reported in November 2021, added aerospace as a new focus, with phased improvements over five and ten years and a hope to extend two runways to 8,600 and 10,500 feet. The Jetport tenants include an air museum, a flight academy, an experimental aircraft chapter and a skydiving operation, and a 2022 report said the Santa Teresa airport would receive new hangars and a cargo-only runway.
That mix creates demand for private hangars, flight-school hangars, maintenance facilities and cargo support buildings. Owners in advanced manufacturing with aviation customers also look at the industrial park next to the Las Cruces airport for hangar-adjacent shops. The city park sits at the I-10 and I-25 junction and is covered by Foreign Trade Zone 197.
The door is the largest single line item in a small hangar, and the fire suppression system is the largest in a big one. Frame span, slab thickness, insulation, heating, and the shop and office build-out follow. Adding a mezzanine office or a parts room changes the cost more than adding square footage to the main bay.
Utilities and site work are the other major costs: ramp pavement, taxiway connection, drainage and electrical service. We help owners separate what the landlord provides from what the tenant pays so the budget compares fairly across sites. Owners who want a shop, parts room and lease space together often combine the hangar with a flex light industrial building on the landside parcel, which we price as one project to share the utilities and the paving.
Tell us the aircraft, the airport and the use, and we will return a hangar concept, an FAA process outline and a schedule. Call or use the form.
Taller than the tail of the tallest aircraft you expect to park, with clearance for the tow bar and ground equipment. A business jet may need a door of 20 to 28 feet, depending on the model. We confirm the numbers with the aircraft manual and the owner.
You need to file a notice with the FAA for construction near a public airport, and the airport sponsor must approve the location and the lease. The FAA reviews the height and location against airspace surfaces. We prepare the information and track the response.
It depends on size, use and aircraft. Large hangars often need foam suppression, and smaller storage hangars may use sprinklers or other approved systems. The fire marshal and the building code determine the requirement, and we raise the question in preconstruction.
Yes. Many hangars are built on ground leases from the airport. The lease sets the term, the building envelope and the reversion terms, and you should know them before you build. We design for the lease boundary and the airport's standards.
A box hangar is a single-aircraft or small-group building with its own door, while a T-hangar is a row of units arranged so that aircraft fit nose to tail. T-hangars use less land per aircraft and are cheaper per unit. We build both and advise on the best mix.