RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY HELD TO OPEN U.S. CUSTOMS FACILITY AT

FLORIDA KEYS MARATHON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

 

On April 20, The Florida Keys Marathon International Airport officially opened its new U.S. Customs & Border Protection Facility.

“Are we ready?” Monroe County Commissioner David Rice said before using a big pair of red sheers to cut the ceremonial ribbon alongside fellow members of the County Commission, former Marathon Mayor Dick Ramsay, Rep. Holly Raschein, Nicole Rapanos (Florida Keys Director for Cong. Carlos Curbelo), County Airports Director Donald DeGraw, Marathon Airport Director T.J. Henderson and members of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Florida Department of Transportation.

“A lot of people worked hard for this day,” Rice said. “We believe it will be worth it, providing a facility that will help boost our economy here in the Middle Keys for years to come.”

International flights now will be able to clear U.S. Customs in Marathon, ushering in a new era for the small, regional airport that is owned and operated by Monroe County. (There was a customs officer on duty to process international arrivals in the 1970s into the mid-1980s, but never before has the airport built a facility specifically for Customs and Border Protection).

“It’s very exciting to say we have an international airport, here in the Middle Keys,” Monroe County Mayor Heather Carruthers said.

The 4,200-square-foot, state-of-the art facility was completed in February. The federal agency received the keys on March 4 and has spent the past few weeks setting up its IT equipment and connecting to its national network to receive flight plans and other information from international arrivals.

“Our standards are pretty stringent,” said Dylan J. DeFrancisci, Port of Miami’s port director with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “There was a lot of back and forth, but it turned out absolutely beautiful.”

On April 12, Commissioner Rice, who helped lead the multi-year effort, welcomed the first international arriving passengers to clear customs using the new facility.

The facility now will be open on its regular schedule: Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.  Off-hour arrivals may be coordinated directly with CBP staff, with at least 24-hour advance notice.

A Florida Department of Transportation grant paid for half of the $1.64 million facility. The other half was paid for with airport funds.

It is a “user-fee” facility, which means the airport pays for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to provide the federal agents. To offset those costs, the Monroe County-owned airport signed a contract with the private company, Marathon Jet Center, which will be responsible for the approximately $150,000 a year it will cost to staff the facility. The company’s revenue will come from assessing landing/ramp fees for planes arriving from international destinations and selling fuel.

The facility will begin with one customs agent, enabling about 10 to 15 people to be processed per hour. With no commercial service at this time, that capacity now should be sufficient to service the general aviation flights that include corporate jets, private planes and charters. However, the facility was built with the ability to expand and process more passengers per hour, as demand increases.

The airport anticipates that traffic will increase for several reasons: the Middle Keys is growing with more tourists and residents; Cuba is opening up; and the convenience it will be able to offer transient aircraft coming from the Caribbean, Central and South America, who now have an alternative to clearing customs at the busier airports in the Miami area.

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