Banning Municipal Airport could move closer to closure after the city considers a nonbinding agreement with Industrial VI Enterprises LLC, an affiliate of Hillwood, for a proposed 3.2 million-square-foot industrial development on 175.7 acres of airport land. The agreement is only a negotiating framework: it would not authorize the airport’s closure, construction or final development agreements, according to city staff reporting cited by AVweb.
That means there is no reported immediate change for pilots, airport tenants or operators. The proposal does not set an effective closure date, and AVweb reports that environmental review, additional City Council approvals and compliance with federal requirements would still be required. City officials estimate the process could take another 18 to 24 months before final council consideration.
Banning is a non-towered airport about 10 miles west of Palm Springs International Airport, with a 5,000-foot runway. Earlier AVweb reporting cited year-end 2023 AirNav data showing 22 single-engine aircraft, two multi-engine aircraft and one helicopter based there, with about 105 weekly operations—75 percent transient. Those figures describe the airport’s earlier operating profile, not a forecast of how traffic would be affected by a future closure.
If the closure proceeds, the city would have to repay certain federal grants and the fair-market value associated with 20 acres obtained through a 1983 grant, redistribute salvageable aviation equipment and provide relocation assistance for current hangar tenants, according to the earlier report. The current proposal also faces opposition from the Southern California Aviation United Working Group, which has questioned the repayment costs, a proposed $6 million public-benefit fee and the project’s environmental and public-safety effects, AVweb reports.
Until the required approvals and federal steps are completed, Banning Municipal Airport remains an operating general-aviation facility. The council’s consideration is a planning milestone, not an in-force airport restriction.