FlyUSA Opens 50,000-Square-Foot Hangar and Owners-Only Lounge at Tampa International Airport
Why It MattersLarge-cabin jets are outgrowing older hangars, so a management company that owns its own space can offer owners something scarce, tying fleet growth to infrastructure rather than aircraft supply alone.
What happened
FlyUSA, a U.S.-based private jet charter and aviation solutions provider, has opened a new 50,000-square-foot hangar and a private owners-only lounge at Tampa International Airport (TPA). Depending on aircraft mix, the hangar can accommodate approximately 20 light, midsize and heavy jets. It includes a specialized tail door designed for aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 737.
The company says it is one of the only corporate hangars in the region able to take the newest Gulfstream and Bombardier jets, including the G700 and the Global 7500. Twenty of FlyUSA's 30 aircraft in the region are now based there. The facility serves as the company's primary maintenance base and will support approximately 30 employees. Before the opening, no single hangar or facility made operational sense for the regional fleet.
The lounge is reserved exclusively for FlyUSA aircraft owners and has individual owner lockers and a conference room. Charter clients will keep arriving and departing through traditional FBO facilities. The hangar sits on the north side of the airport, away from Tampa's two existing FBOs, so FlyUSA fuels and moves its own aircraft rather than relying on third-party line services. CEO Barry Shevlin said the hangar's size should help accelerate the company's move into managing larger aircraft.
Hangar supply and the newest jets
Sky Harbour has reported that hangar construction has not kept pace with the growing footprint of the private aircraft fleet, leaving some markets with lengthy waits for suitable space. Shevlin said the shortage is particularly acute for owners of the newest ultra-long-range aircraft such as the Gulfstream G700, which do not fit in most hangars built more than five years ago.
Growth targets and next sites
The opening follows FlyUSA's third consecutive appearance on the Inc. 5000. The company's long-term goal is to manage 100 aircraft and reach $500 million in annual revenue by 2032.
FlyUSA holds a ground lease in Lakeland, Florida, where another 50,000-square-foot hangar could come online in late 2028 or early 2029. Shevlin said that facility would likely be used for longer heavy-maintenance checks, while Tampa remains the primary maintenance and owner base. He said the combination of hangar space and an owners-only lounge is expected to be the blueprint for locations in other important markets.
Industry impact & what to watch
In aircraft management, the constraint on taking in larger jets is increasingly physical space rather than demand. When new ultra-long-range types cannot fit in hangars built more than five years ago, a management company that controls a suitably sized building holds something owners cannot easily source elsewhere. Pairing that space with an owners-only lounge separates the owner experience from the charter-client experience, which still runs through ordinary FBOs.
The model also changes the cost structure at the airport. Operating from a north-side hangar and handling its own fueling and towing moves work that an FBO would normally perform in-house. That favors operators with enough based aircraft to justify the labor, and FlyUSA's 20 aircraft on site and roughly 30 staff are the scale it is betting on.
The next dated marker is Lakeland, where a second 50,000-square-foot hangar could open in late 2028 or early 2029 and take over longer heavy-maintenance checks. Whether the Tampa format is then repeated in other markets, as Shevlin describes, will show if this is a one-off facility or a template for the 100-aircraft target.
