A TAP-managed airport
San Marcos Regional Airport
Long-term airport management built around operating discipline, infrastructure, business development, and public accountability.
KHYI · San Marcos, Texas
By the numbers
The San Marcos record.
The operating record
More than a decade of measurable progress.
TAP began managing San Marcos Regional Airport for the City of San Marcos in October 2010 after selection through a competitive RFP. The current term runs through September 2030, with an additional five-year extension requiring City Council and TAP approval. The assignment connects on-field management with agency coordination, capital work, leasing, business recruitment, policy, and long-range planning.
A more accountable airport
- Airport revenue grew from $293,826 in FY2011 to a projected $1.1 million in FY2026
- Based aircraft grew from fewer than 100 in 2011 to more than 300 in 2026
- Annual operations grew from an estimated 55,000 in 2011 to 100K+ in 2026 as flight-training activity accelerated
Airfield systems that support growth
- GPS approach procedures for all six runway ends
- Tower radar and a NextGen ADS-B repeater station
- Water and sanitary sewer improvements and a dual power feed
- Reconstruction of major taxiway systems and ILS runway
Funding coordinated through delivery
- More than $45 million in total FAA funding secured
- $12.6 million in FAA discretionary funding for Taxiways Alpha and Charlie
- $2.5 million in Economic Development Administration funding for a secondary airport entrance
- Runway, taxiway, utility, lighting, fencing, weather-system, and master-plan projects
Demand turned into airport activity
- Recruited aeronautical users and closed leases that expanded employment, training, maintenance, and aviation services on the airfield
- Development included a 33,000-square-foot FBO and a $2.7 million, 31,000-square-foot maintenance hangar
- Economic impact grew from $44.9 million in FY2011 to $116.6 million in FY2026, a 160 percent increase, per the TxDOT-commissioned Texas Aviation Economic Impact Study
- Airport expanded to 1,590 acres following completion of the Department of Labor land acquisition in 2025
Rules changed for long-term investment
- Led the Texas legislative effort to increase airport ground-lease terms to 50 years
- Led the federal legislative effort adding the Department of Labor property to Section 114 of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024
- Assisted in the creation and adoption of airport height-hazard and land-use zoning
- Updated the 2001 Airport Master Plan
Community connections
- Assisted Texas State University in founding the first bachelor’s aviation degree at a Texas public university to include flight training
- Supported aviation education, maintenance training, surveying, flight training, and tenant expansion
- Served on community boards and volunteered with local civic and aviation organizations
Before the metrics
The airfield came first.
San Marcos Regional Airport carries the bones of a military airfield. Its runways, land, and operating history are inherited conditions every plan must honor.
Watch Eighty Years From Above (1:16)Airfield timeline
Archival photographs and satellite images trace the airfield’s evolution from wartime training to a civilian airport, with new hangars and apron space visible in later aerials.
San Marcos Army Airfield opens to train navigators during World War II.
The City of San Marcos takes ownership, and civilian flights begin.
Runway 4/22 becomes Taxiway Juliet. The other three original runways remain.
- 2023–24
Taxiway Charlie is rebuilt in 2023. Taxiway Alpha reopens after reconstruction in 2024.
Read the film description
The film opens with a 1942 Army record of the navigation school under construction and a newspaper photo of the airfield’s activation ceremony. Photos show the main gate, original control tower and a training aircraft. An aerial from around 1946 shows the military base, followed by a 1958 aerial of Camp Gary.
A 1973 aerial shows all four original runways. Later aerials show hangars along the main apron, Taxiway Juliet on the old runway, the newer control tower, added apron and hangar space near Taxiway K, and the rebuilt Charlie and Alpha taxiways.
Satellite images from 1984 to 2022 show San Marcos growing around the airport. The closing comparison aligns the 1973 and 2024 aerials. Three runways remain, and Taxiway Juliet follows the fourth. The film ends at the airport entrance sign on Highway 21.
Satellite sequence: Google Earth Timelapse (Google, Landsat, Copernicus), CC BY 4.0. Reframed, retimed and annotated.
Sources · City preservation plan · Airport master plan · Taxiway Charlie · Taxiway Alpha
Selected prior experience
Experience built across Texas Aviation.
TAP's prior work has included airport and FBO management engagements across Texas, each adding to the operational and development experience we bring to our work today.
Pearland Regional Airport
Daily operations, facility improvements, leasing, fuel service, and long-term airport growth.
GTU Jet
FBO operations, hangar and office facilities, leasing, customer amenities, and business development.
North Texas Regional Airport
Operations oversight, staffing guidance, funding strategy, and business development during a transition period.
Airport Business Development Plan
Business, financial, market, lease, rate, policy, and implementation analysis grounded in airport operations.
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