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The Decatur County airport was busier than usual on Saturday, with multiple flights coming in for a special occasion: the opening of Southeast Aviation Services, a new airplane maintenance shop. Attendees were treated to burgers and greeted by the business owner and staff.

Lacey Smith, owner of Southeast Aviation Services, spoke with the Post-Searchlight about the new business. Smith is also the president and owner of FL Aviation Center in Tallahassee; when asked what prompted her to open a new business in Bainbridge, she said, “Bainbridge airport has a lot of nice approaches, and it’s got quite a bit of room up here.” She continued, “They have the available infrastructure that we needed, so we decided it was going to work out better for us up here.”

According to Smith, this has been in the works since March. Southeast Aviation Services currently has four employees, and offers basic aircraft maintenance for small single-engine and light twin-engine planes.

“We’re just happy to get started up here, and hope to help the aviation community in this area,” Smith said.