Arnold Palmer Regional Airport a safe haven for planes escaping Hurricane Helene

The Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe became a safe haven for some expensive — make that very expensive — Gulfstream jets flown there from Georgia on Thursday to escape the high winds of Hurricane Helene, an airport official said.

About 15 Gulfstream jets from Georgia, where Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. has a factory in Savannah, landed at the airport in Unity, said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority. The jets will remain outside on an old runway visible from Route 981 because there isn’t sufficient hangar space for all the planes, Monzo said.

Monzo said it isn’t unusual for planes to fly into the airport to escape the path of a hurricane. The county will receive money from landing fees and any refueling costs, Monzo said.

A spokesperson for Gulfstream Aerospace could not be reached for comment Thursday.

“Those corporate jets are top-of-the-line — big and expensive,” said James Arnold, flight school administrator at the Laurel Highlands Jet Center, which is based at Arnold Palmer Regional.

One of the planes parked along the old runway is a 2024 Gulfstream G700, which has a range of 7,750 nautical miles, can fly as high as 51,000 feet and has living space for five people. It can cruise at a speed of 93% of the speed of sound, according to the Gulfstream website.

Anyone wanting to purchase a used one better have a big bank account because the price tag for a used one is $75 million, according to the online Aircraft Cost Calculator.

The hurricane, packing winds of up to 100 mph, was expected to hit Atlanta by early Friday morning.