FIS-GA Customs Facility
FIS-Customs

Federal Inspection Services (FIS) – General Aviation (GA) Facility

 

Status

The TAIT board approved the construction contract to Flintco and accepted the FAA grant. Demolition of existing structures and pavement is nearly complete, and utilities are being located. Installation of rough utilities will begin soon. Construction is expected to be completed late 2025, with operations expected to begin in Spring 2026.

 

Project Overview

Purpose

Provide screening of commercial passenger and general aviation flights arriving from outside the United States.

 

Justification

Background: Tulsa International Airport’s (TUL’s) existing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office is located near the airport terminal, adjacent to cargo warehouse facilities. The 1,272 square foot facility requires CBP officers to travel to arriving aircraft to conduct inspections on aircraft ramps, typically adjacent to Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) or corporate hangars. CBP notified the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust (TAIT) in 2016 that the TUL facilities were inadequate to accommodate their mission and that they would cease operations at TUL unless TAIT can provide a new facility that meets their current design standards.

In 2019, TAIT engaged an architectural and engineering firm to begin preliminary conceptual design of a new facility and in February 2020 had selected a location adjacent to the terminal building that would provide adequate space to build a new facility that would accommodate airside access for agents and terminal access for passengers to enter upon successful clearance through the CBP inspection. The entire project was put on hold in March 2020 because of declining activity and revenues because of the COVID 19 pandemic. As the construction start date nears, CBP continues to operate out of their existing facility under an annual agreement.

Impacted Users

Existing: Corporate charters and private operators are the predominant users of existing CBP services. Periodically American Airlines will fly a flight crew (without passengers) from an international airport to Tulsa for maintenance work that requires inspection. Also, cargo operators are regular users of CBP services.

Planned: A new combination FIS and GA facility will be constructed to current CBP standards to meet both the needs of commercial air carriers that would provide connections to Tulsa from international destinations (most likely Mexico, Latin America, and Caribbean) and the GA users that receive services today.

airport

Estimated Project Costs: $41M

Timeline
1 December 2023

Plan Submittal

Execute Grants and construction contract, Issue Notice to Proceed and Contractor to start material procurement.

   
24 January 2024

Ground Breaking

 

 

 

   
1 April 2024

Start Construction

 

 

 

   
1 November 2025

Complete Construction

 

 

 

   
1 Spring 2026

Begins Operation

 

 

 

   
 

airport render 2

 

airport-render-3

Vendors Used in Design
  • Narrate (formerly Selser Schaefer) for architecture
  • Corgan for CBP-specific design
  • Garver for civil, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and landscaping design
  • 360 Engineering Group for structural design
  • BNP Associates for baggage conveyor system design
  • TLC Engineering Solutions for security and communication systems design
  • Wiss, Janney, Elstner for code consulting
  • LDGregory for electrical design review
  • ARUP for façade lighting
  • Stone Security Engineering for security desgin
  • Kleinfelder for soil borings and geotechnical engineering
  • Currie & Brown for estimating

Vendors Used in Construction
  • Flintco