By: Ashlyn Brothers
BENTONVILLE, Ark. – A multimillion-dollar renovation follows the gradual rise of air traffic at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, with an increase in over 200,000 enplanements during a 10-year span. This year alone, airport boardings are up 15%, while the number of passengers rose 23%. The growing demographic led to a growing demand for new flights and more amenities. According to a news release, Allegiant Airlines announced its new service from XNA to Phoenix, Arizona through Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA). The service begins on November 14, 2019, and will operate two times a week.
“We’re very excited to grow again in Northwest Arkansas,” said Drew Wells, Allegiant vice president of planning and revenue. “We’re certain that Bentonville-area travelers will appreciate the opportunity to get away to enjoy all that the Valley of the Sun has to offer.”
The company is offering one-way fares on the new route for as low as $69 through August 14, 2019. As of June 27, 2019, Frontier Airlines began offering flights out of XNA. The additional airlines and services battle for the best deal, as they actively compete with each other for customers.
“We’ve got some great fairs that are going on right now,” said Kelly Johnson, XNA airport director. “It’s been interesting to watch, uh, the market relates to how this new fair is going to impact the fairs and the services that are offered here.”
According to Chief Development Officer Andrew Branch, Allegiant’s 2019 enplanements are up 50% from last year. The airline will connect to six cities from Northwest Arkansas once the service begins.
“We are thrilled about Allegiant’s announcement of the new seasonal route to Phoenix-Mesa,” said Branch. “Allegiant continues to show their commitment to Northwest Arkansas by continuing to add service(s) and we couldn’t be happier with the incredible growth they have enjoyed at XNA.”
The airport offered a flight to Phoenix through Allegiant in 2009 but ultimately lost the service due to low consumer turnout.
“It didn’t do well. It didn’t perform well. People didn’t use the service and we lost that service,” Johnson said.
Phoenix isn’t the first destination to return to XNA after an unsuccessful attempt.
“We’ve had other services that didn’t perform well that we’ve lost and then they, we were able to bring them back,” Johnson continued.
Service to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington DC was brought back for a third time before ticket sales took off. Johnson said timing and connectivity contribute to the success of a service.
“We’re happy to see Phoenix come back, but we’ve got to make sure we do a good job in marketing that service to make sure the public knows it’s there because if those airplanes aren’t full enough, they’ll pull that service,” said Johnson. “There’s an old airport axiom, ‘use it or lose it.’ So, if the public doesn’t use the service, we will lose the service.”
Finances can keep people from their desired destination. James Chesser who serves as a valet attendant and exit booth cashier has worked at XNA for 5 months, but he has yet to ride on an airplane. Chesser said he hopes to fly in the sky one day.
“With the cheaper flights coming in I will hopefully be able to go and travel like I want to. Travel and see different places other than Arkansas,” Chesser said.
Chesser also acknowledged his desire to frequent Phoenix. “I have heard a lot about Phoenix. I’ve always wanted to go see it and Arizona itself, period. All through Arizona. I’ve wanted to see just the landscape, the trees, everything,” he said.
Others have also expressed their interest in the flight to Phoenix. “My husband and I go to Scottsdale just about every year, so we would definitely do that,” said Karen Gibbons, resident of South Tulsa.
Airlines aren’t the only additions to XNA. The new screening checkpoint, as well as a fourth screening lane, has been in the works. Proposed construction projects are also being discussed. Those potential renovations include a new entrance, redundancy in the escalators and elevator systems, bridges, a second-floor terminal, concessions and retail shops, and a remodeled lobby and baggage claim.
“I enjoy it because it’ll bring more to Arkansas. It’ll bring more people to come to visit and just really helps businesses grow and thrive in Northwest Arkansas,” Chesser added.
A $27 million tax renovation will wrap up next year. XNA just started adding two new B gates per turn gates in order to accommodate less than daily service carriers like Allegiant and Frontier. That $3 million project came online in June.
“We want to try and provide the services that the public wants. We want them to think of this as their hometown airport, and this is the first place when they think of travel they get on and look at. Not some other airport that they’ve got to get in their car and drive to,” Johnson said.
The airport is constantly working to improve its facilities to compete with surrounding markets. “We lose market share to Tulsa. That’s the biggest, we call it a ‘leakage market.’ Our customers drive instead of fly and uh they’ll drive to that market,” Johnson said.
Gibbons contributes to the “leakage market,” only she is a part of the Tulsa population who commutes to NWA. “We have found that XNA is a little hidden treasure over here,” said Gibbons. “We found that we enjoyed the trip, the hour and a half trip here to take the flight as opposed to taking a flight out of Tulsa and spending that hour and a half in the air or at another airport somewhere.” Gibbons and her husband make the trip to XNA about six times per year.
Johnson said she is encouraged by the number of consumers. “They had load factors. That means [the] number of people on board the flight of over 90%, so [airlines are] really happy to see that.”
But she says there is some concern with summer travel tapering off.
“We need to make sure we keep those planes full to keep them happy with this market, so we’re working with the Northwest Arkansas Council,” said Johnson. “They’ve started a program called Fare Flight. It’s a website and a blog. They’re trying to push people to look at XNA first, as opposed to traveling to other airports in other markets too, for their travel needs.”
Johnson said a lot of people still view NWA Regional Airport as a business market that only serves business travelers. After expanding its services, XNA has targeted a newer and larger crowd than ever before.
“While we were more heavily tilted towards the business traveler, we’re seeing that percentage come down, come down, come down, come down to almost more of a 50/50 kind of a point, instead of a 65% business and 35% leisure travel,” said Johnson. “So, you market to those customers differently. Part of that story is when do you book your flight? How do you take advantage of getting some of these lower costs, uh, tickets in your pocket, and we’re going to really concentrate on that going forward.”
A groundbreaking date for the multimillion-dollar project hasn’t been set, as finances are still being negotiated.
Johnson said it’s important to keep moving forward and focus on the future. “Innovate or die. It’s how the business works,” she said.