PLANNERS have given the go-ahead to a new control tower and extra hangar at West Wales Airport in Blaenannerch after hearing they were urgently needed.

The scheme, approved subject to conditions by Ceredigion County Council planners under delegated powers last week, will see a replacement control tower, a new modern hangar facility and an extended taxiway built on the site along with associated works.

In a planning statement, owners said that there was a “high demand” for its services in the Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS) sector at the site with “a wide variety of major UK manufacturers and operators” expressing a wish to operate from the airport this year.

RPAS are more commonly referred to as drones.

“Currently, all the available ground-based accommodation that can access airside is now fully and permanently utilised,” the planning statement said.

“There is not even any storage capacity for the airport’s own fire service and airfield maintenance equipment.

“To accommodate the imminent further growth in the customer base, there is an urgent need to construct additional ground-based facilities in the form of an additional hangar and a separate control tower.”

No objections to the scheme were received.