NORWICH – County leaders agreed late last month to apply for a $300,000 state grant to build a commercial airplane hangar at the Lt. Warren E. Eaton Airport in North Norwich.

The grant carries with it a 10 percent local share. Officials will dip into the airport’s $500,000 trust fund and/or accrued interest to cover the amount. The airport’s namesake and benefactor was a decorated World War II military pilot who became a popular Norwich aviator and businessman.

The hangar is needed for two reasons: To garage larger aircraft and because the current hangars are full. Independent airport operator PrivatAir has been forced to keep a recently acquired turbo-propped craft at a hangar in Binghamton.

“We do have a lot of customers in the Binghamton area, but our employees are here and if we had space, there’s a good chance we would have kept it here,” General Manager Jamie Baciuska said.

PrivatAir is currently servicing executive travel for Lockheed Martin. The company keeps a jet at the Chenango County airport for regular Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals charters. The jet hangar here also houses a plane owned by New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Edmeston.

“If a light jet or larger aircraft comes in and wants to stay over, our hangars are completely full,” Baciuska said.