Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport
Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport (formerly known as Silver Comet Field) is a small public use airport in Paulding County, Georgia, United States. Formerly known as Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport and Paulding County Regional Airport, it is owned by the Paulding County Board of Commissioners. The airport is located in Dallas, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a "general aviation" facility. This airport is located on the Rockmart Highway (U.S. Route 278), approximately 25 miles from the nearest interstate and 40 miles  from Midtown Atlanta. Construction was completed in late 2008. It is the ninth local airport in metro Atlanta, and the first new jet-capable airport in Georgia since 1975. To date more than $70M has gone into the construction and development of the airport. Paulding County has spent roughly $10 million of its own money, roughly $55 million in Federal Aviation Administration grants, and $7 million in state funds on the airport. It is anticipated that economic development activity at the airport could result in more than $350 Million in annual economic activity and  thousands of jobs for Paulding County over the next decade. Although many U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this facility is assigned PUJ by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA (which assigned PUJ to Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic). History. In 1975, in anticipation of a second international airport, the city of Atlanta purchased of land in Paulding for $925 per acre. In early 2007, the county purchased of the property for the new general aviation airport. Paulding County is unserved by either rapid transit  or freeways. 2012 hangar collapse. On February 22, 2012, one worker was killed and another was injured by the collapse of the second hangar during construction work. Construction of this hangar had earlier been delayed, in December 2011, when it was discovered that the hangar's concrete slab was not level. 2012 tornado. On the night of March 2, 2012, during the tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2012, the airport was struck by an EF3 tornado that tore a path across the county. Several million dollars in damage was done, including $1.5 million to the facility, and $5  million to the aircraft parked and stored there, most of which were destroyed (between 18 and 23 aircraft). The hangar was so severely damaged it had to be torn down and rebuilt. The airport was closed until cleanup and essential repairs were completed. Repairs to the terminal building were completed in October 2012. The airport became operational with aircraft activity near levels documented prior to the March 2012 tornado, though the airport's only charter service ceased operations there. . Privatization. On October 4, 2013, Paulding County announced a Public Private Partnership with Propeller Investments to further develop the airport, with  an intent to provide commercial passenger services. This was opposed by local residents, to whom the head of the Paulding County Airport Authority had that the airport would remain a general aviation airport. Consequently, residents filed several lawsuits, addressing violations of Georgia's Sunshine Laws and Open Meetings Act, and an ultra vires suit against the Paulding County Industrial Building Authority for overextending its authority, with some of these lawsuits being filed by attorneys associated with Delta Air Lines. By 2015, anti-privatization politicians had been elected to the Paulding County Commission, straining the private industry relations, and by 2018 , the Airport Authority terminated the partnership. In 2021, a judge upheld the county's cancellation of the agreements and the companies appealed. Facilities. Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport covers an area of at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one southeast–northwest runway designated 13/31 which measures . Made of concrete, it is capable of landing aircraft up to for single-wheel landing gear, and for dual-wheel. A new, terminal building was opened in May 2010, along with the airport's new fixed-base operator, Paulding Jet Center. The airport also has an AWOS weather station, a rotating  beacon, and pilot-activated runway lighting. The runway elevation averages AMSL, ±3 feet (±1m). PUJ offers an ILS and GPS approach on runway 31. The National Weather Service did not carry observations for this location until late 2012 or early 2013. On October 1, 2020, the Paulding Airport FBO took the place of the former Paulding Jet Center FBO. This new FBO is under direction of the Paulding County Airport Authority.