BANGOR — When you’re a landlord of sorts, running out of space to rent can be a nice burden to have. Just ask officials at Bangor International Airport.

Director Bob Ziegelaar told councilors on the airport committee Tuesday that it may be necessary to construct a new hangar in the near future.

Air Cargo Carriers contacted BIA on June 1 in the hope of renting space by June 8. The company is now occupying 4,000 square feet of space in the one empty hangar, and will base one or more small planes in Bangor.

The lease fee for the space is $2,650 a month, Ziegelaar explained.

One concept being considered, he said, is building a new hangar near the Federal Aviation Administration building off Maine Avenue.

If three bays were constructed, there would be room for a corporate tenant, the helicopter that Eastern Maine Healthcare plans to base in Bangor, and more space for General Aviation Services.

The project would be “good development,” Ziegelaar said, “the kind of thing we need to be doing in Bangor.”

BIA also is going to be providing more “mutual assistance” to other airports, with councilors’ approval. Last year, BIA staff helped another airport with runway painting, and another project is in the works, he explained. The airport is paid for the work involving its striping machine, thus bringing in revenue.

Domestic traffic at the airport is up 6 percent over last year, the director said, “providing the highest growth numbers we’ve seen in our history.”

That will help bring back jet service, Ziegelaar said. He has been working with a number of airlines this past year, and a number of them are considering bringing in jets. US Airways discontinued jet service at BIA in May of 1997, leaving only Delta providing jet connections to Atlanta and Cincinnati.

Other activities are in the planning stages, as well, including a new program of ski packages. He has been working on some international projects that could be very beneficial for the airport, he said.

City Manager Edward Barrett said that across the country, “there is no city of our size that runs an airport like this.”