Vice president visit means a lot of work for Roanoke airport

Vice president flew in Thursday to give speech at D-Day memorial

ROANOKE, Va. – Having a high profile guest like the Vice president fly in to the area is a lot of work for the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.

Pence flew to the airport Thursday morning and then traveled to Bedford for the ceremony at the D-Day memorial.

Airport marketing director Brad Boettcher says planning for the Vice president's arrival takes weeks.

The airport had to coordinate with the Secret Service, local law enforcement and figure out where to park the Vice president's plane.

"It's a lot of work to get these set up, but at the same time being able to host VIPs and welcome them and greet them into the region is fantastic. We take a lot of pride in that," Boettcher said.

He says he believes the Vice president got a good first impression of the Roanoke Valley.