Vero’s first customs agent arrived at 10:30 last Sunday morning, wearing street clothes and carrying a backpack, unlocked the door facing the parking lot and went inside. Fifteen minutes later, Corporate Air employee Valerie Flannigan entered the building and locked the door behind her.

At 11 a.m., the lock clicked back and the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility at Vero Beach Regional Airport was ready for business for the first time – seven years after Corporate Air president Rodger Pridgeon came up with the idea of handling private international flights.

A formal grand opening ceremony for the facility with invited dignitaries and community members who were involved in developing the project and getting it over the finish line is set for tomorrow.

The customs house will be open Thursday through Monday, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Pilots coming from abroad are required to notify the local customs agent of their intent to land in Vero two hours before leaving their foreign location.

When aircraft land, they will taxi to the “red box,” a section of tarmac outlined with scarlet strips next to the Federal Inspection Station – another name for the Customs facility – and wait for the agent to come out and begin processing the plane.

All crew, passengers and accompanying baggage will be processed inside the 4,500-square-foot, high-tech facility, which was paid for by Pridgeon in a bid to boost his business providing fuel, hanger space, maintenance and other services for private jets, most owned by island residents.

Those arriving from abroad should “be prepared to present passports, visas, pilots’ license, medical certificate, aircraft registration, and other documents,” according to a fact sheet provided by the Department of Homeland Security.

Arrivals will pay a fee for use of the Customs facility, with the amount based on the type and size of aircraft. Basic fees range from $40 for a single-engine prop plane to $625 for the largest private jets. Helicopters pay $150.

Flights that get permission to land after 7 p.m. pay an additional $500 fee if they are processed by 9 p.m., with another $250 tacked on for each hour past 9 p.m.

The first visitors to the new facility – a Vero Beach 32963 reporter and photographer – were welcomed warmly by Flannigan, the pay station representative who will collect the landing fees.

A few minutes after 11 a.m., a second Customs agent arrived, armed and in uniform, to help get the facility up and running.

“That gentleman drove up from the Miami office,” said Flannigan. “Normally there will be just one agent on duty. Right now, we are just getting the lay of the land and waiting for things to happen.”

The agents on duty did not have the authority to provide a tour of the secure section of the facility but a diagram provided by Corporate Air shows a building with 12 rooms and six restrooms, including one with a shower for Customs agents.

There is a large lobby/waiting area on the secure side where passengers and crew will enter and an even larger central inspection area with tables, counters and a spot for an X-ray machine.

If any funny business is detected, such as smuggled goods or outstanding warrants, there is an interview room, a room for searching suspicious people, and two secure holding rooms, one for females and one for males.

The inner wall facing the public parking lot is bulletproof with a heavy, armored door, and there are concrete bollards to prevent a vehicle from ramming the building to gain entry.

“That door is very secure,” said Flannigan. “I don’t have the combination to open it. Just the agents.”

Pridgeon said he expects more than 500 international flights in the first year of operation, with lots of traffic in season and less in summer and early fall. Even this time of year, though, he thinks there will be quite a few planes departing for and arriving from the Bahamas, where many 32963 residents, take summer holidays.

Outgoing international flights also must be cleared by Customs.

Pridgeon expects a 30-percent increase in business due to international flights, and said there will be a spillover benefit for the airport and local economy due to increased air traffic.

“Right now, someone flying in from the Bahamas to Vero Beach has to land in Fort Pierce, clear customs, reload the plane and fly up here,” Pridgeon said. “That’s about a $4,000 cost.”

Not to mention the inconvenience. The whole idea of flying private is to be comfortable, avoid typical airport hassles and get there quickly.

But getting off your jet at 10 o’clock at night on the tarmac in Fort Pierce, answering questions and having your luggage inspected, getting back on the plane, taking off for a short hop to Vero and deplaning again on your way to your island home kind of takes some of the fun out of it.

Pridgeon believes private flyers living or traveling abroad who have homes in Vero will come more often when the trip gets much easier, along with others who want to visit the area or are clearing customs before flying on to another destination.

“Our feasibility study looked at airports in Stuart and Boca Raton that did what we are doing, and there was a 30- to 32-percent increase in traffic,” Pridgeon said.

That will translate into more car rentals, more restaurant meals and more hotel stays, according to Pridgeon and Airport Director Todd Scher.

Pridgeon first got the idea to open Vero’s airport to international flights in 2017, applying to U.S. Customs  the following year.

“It has been a seven-year effort,” he said. “We had to get a letter from the governor and one from the city manager and fill out all the paperwork.

“We got approved five years ago for a U.S. Customs User Fee Facility and then had to do all the engineering and draw up a site plan and building plans.

“It’s been an elaborate process. There is so much specialized infrastructure in the building, with the bulletproof panels and all the communication and scanning equipment.

“It took forever to get all the approvals, but we finally got there.”

Asked how he felt on Sunday, seeing the long, arduous process finally come to fruition, Pridgeon said, “It is very satisfying and rewarding, and there is a huge sense of relief, all at the same time.”

Pridgeon declined to specify the final cost of the new facility but previously told Vero Beach 32963 it would be in the neighborhood $3 million. Asked how much it will cost to operate the facility, he said, “It’s expensive!”

Besides paying to build the Customs house, Pridgeon pays the agents’ salaries along with a quarterly fee to the government and all the other ordinary costs of operating a building, such as insurance, utilities and maintenance.

Most of his income from international flights will come from fuel sales, hanger rentals and other services, not user fees.