Aviation business plans major expansion at Las Cruces airport

Bellator Aviation, LLC, a local aviation business that has been operating as a flight training school at Las Cruces International Airport (KLRU) since 2019, is planning an expansion at the airport this year, the company said in a Feb. 8 news release.

Bellator is a flight school that trains pilots and offers local students the opportunities to attain multiple pilot certifications, the news release said.

The company was founded in 2019 by three military veterans “to meet the increasing demand for inexpensive flight time building options for military helicopter pilots looking to gain the required airplane experience for civilian careers in the airline industry,” said Bellator managing owner Daniel Roberts.

KLRU was selected by Bellator as their headquarters “due to the friendly business climate, sunny weather that allows more days of training, lower operating cost and the existing relationships with key airport Stakeholders,” Roberts said.

Bellator delayed expansion plans because of the pandemic, he said, launching flight training using a single airplane and instructor. As the local economy and aviation-related businesses slowly begin to emerge from Covid-19, the company “is restarting its growth plans at the airport,” Roberts said.

Last month, Bellator was selected by the City of Las Cruces to develop facilities for aeronautical purposes on a 63,000-square-foot parcel at KLRU, Bellator said. The company is planning an executive terminal that will include 24,000 square feet of hangars to be used for aircraft storage and maintenance and a commercial office building with more than 12,000 square feet of available office space to be used for aeronautical business purposes, the news release said.

A groundbreaking for the project is expected this summer, with construction expected to take 12 months to complete.

The total project is valued at more than $7 million over three years, Bellator said, and is expected to create 47 full-time jobs.

Bellator also has submitted a proposal to the city to be selected as the partner air carrier for passenger air service at KLRU under the state’s Rural Air Service Enhancement Grant Program, Bellator said. If selected, the company said it will immediately begin hiring additional staff and expanding existing facilities at the airport.

If selected to provide air service, Bellator would provide flights between Las Cruces and Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Dallas, and Phoenix as early as June 2022. Daily flights during the work week would be provided to Albuquerque on a nine-seat or smaller turboprop airplane with multiple roundtrip flights occurring Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the news release said. Weekend flights from Las Cruces would be provided to Santa Fe. Bellator also would provide three weekly roundtrips to Phoenix and five weekly roundtrips to Dallas.