Nacogdoches Airport Runway 18/36 to Close for Construction from May 18 to August 2026
Why It MattersA single-runway general-aviation airport's full closure for pavement work shows how construction scheduling forces operators and brokers to plan alternate airports well ahead of the season it affects.
What happened
L. Mangham Jr. Regional Airport (OCH) in Nacogdoches, Texas, has announced that Runway 18/36 and all connecting and parallel taxiways will completely close for pavement construction beginning May 18, 2026. The closure is expected to last until early August 2026, with phased taxiway closures and other intermittent closures potentially continuing into October 2026. Pilots are advised to check NOTAMs for real-time closure notices.
The airport sits one mile outside of Loop 224 off State Highway 7 west in Nacogdoches and is owned and operated by the City of Nacogdoches. Runway 18/36 has an asphalt surface measuring 5,001 feet in length by 75 feet wide and is equipped with a precision instrument approach capable of serving aircraft ranging from single-engine planes to larger corporate jets.
The airport serves as headquarters for the Texas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, the highest echelon of Civil Air Patrol in Texas, comprising over 4,000 cadet and adult members at more than 70 locations statewide. Self-serve AvGAS and JetA+ fuels are available 24/7 via major credit card, and full-service fueling is available by truck during business hours or by pre-arrangement after hours.
Industry impact & what to watch
Runway closures for pavement rehabilitation are a routine part of general-aviation airport upkeep, but a full closure of the only runway removes the field from service entirely rather than reducing its capacity. Operators that use OCH for corporate jet traffic during the May-to-August window lose the field outright, not just certain approaches or hours.
For a single-runway airport, the precision instrument approach and the 5,001-by-75-foot asphalt surface described here are what determine which aircraft can normally use the field; once the runway closes, none of that capacity is available regardless of aircraft type. The taxiway work extending into October signals the airport may reopen with residual restrictions even after the main runway returns to service.
The next thing to watch is the NOTAM stream the airport itself points to, since the May 18 start and early-August reopening are both described as expectations rather than fixed dates, and the taxiway schedule through October has not been finalized.
