Regional air carrier Northern Air Cargo (NAC) has entered in to a lease agreement with Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport for space at the former Kulis Air National Guard base on Raspberry Road. The property will support transportation of Shell Alaska Exploration personnel during the summer offshore exploration season.
Northern Aviation Services, a division of NAC,, has reconfigured the building that once served as the mess hall and kitchen, transforming it into a charter terminal for use by Shell's employees and contractors. The company has also chartered a Boeing 737-400 passenger aircraft from Miami Air that will be based at the site.
NAC is the first air operator to lease space at the former base, located on 129 acres owned by the state, according to the Department of Transportation of Public Facilities. Kulis operated from the 1950s until February, 2011, when Air National Guard operations were relocated to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
According to a statement issued by the department this week, , about 230,000 square feet of space remains available for lease, including three hangars, four office buildings and a warehouse. The land also has approximately 15 acres of aircraft parking apron and three acres of vehicle parking lots.
The department is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to designate approximately half of the former Kulis land as non-aeronautical. The designation would make it easier to lease office space on uplands near Raspberry Road to tenants in businesses other than aviation.
Anchorage Daily News / adn.com