COVINGTON, Ga. - The Covington City Council approved the addition of five new canopy-style T-Hangars at the Covington Municipal Airport Monday night for a cost of $82,710 from the Reynolds Company, in Madison.

Airport Manager Vincent Passariello said the airport currently has a 15-person waiting list for hangar space.

The hangar space, once complete, will be rented out to tenants at an average cost of $110 or $120 a month depending on the plane stored. Currently, the airport offers open space tie-downs at a cost of $60 a month and closed space for $300 a month.

Initial funding for the hangars will come from the city’s reserve fund, City Manager Leigh Anne Knight said.

Covington Mayor Ronnie Johnston said it will cost the city about $16,000 to build each hangar at the current bid, which will then take about nine years for one of them to be paid off through the rent charges alone.

“The objective here is the more people you get to park their planes here on a regular basis, the more your fuel sales go up and so forth,” Knight said.

Passariello said the airport has a lot of room left to continue to add hangar space.

Passariello will retire from his position Friday and John King will fill the position.

“The sun’s really bad on airplanes,” King said. “They can park out here (in the open space) and its $60 a month, but you’re in the elements. It’s kind of like your car being out in the sun all day, stuff starts cracking and all that.

“For a lot of people, airplanes are very expensive, they’re an investment and those t-hangars will provide for that demand and protect their aircrafts.”

The canonpy-style hangars can be compared to a carport, versus a garage. It will simply provide a cover for the airplanes, without walls or doors.