BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME. Words, which hold true for
the panhandle of Florida. As noted, the Airport in Panama City and
the Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Fort Walton Beach, are
experiencing much growth. Why? Well it was a, Good thing/Bad
Thing. BP Oil Spill cause significant damages to Gulf. BP Oil
spends millions of dollars in advertising around the country. This
advertising and awareness has cause a significant increase in tourism, which
also has led to investment in the real estate market for both vacation rentals
and second homes. The secret is out, and the Emerald Coast is somewhere
to spend some time, invest in real estate, and/or make it their home of the
future, which many have done already. I expect with the International
pilots of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter School ramping up, we will also have
the eyes of the International world on us in a big way, as well.
Airport
projecting ‘impressive growth’
By VALERIE GARMAN
PANAMA CITY — Air travel in
Northwest Florida has changed since Northwest Florida Beaches International
Airport opened in May 2010. At a
public workshop Tuesday at the Bay County Library to discuss the airport’s
master planning process, project manager Paul Puckli reminded audience members
how Beaches International has changed the face of air travel in the region
since its opening. “You’ve got an airport now that has enhanced
facilities, improved facilities, state-of-the-art facilities, that provides you
an even better link to the air transportation system,” Puckli said. “It’s
really promoting air transportation in this area like your other airport just
couldn’t do.” The meeting provided an
overview of the 16- to 18-month master planning process that, once complete,
will outline five-, 10- and 20-year planning horizons for the airport, and give
officials a tool to design the airport of the future. Officials are in the process of forecasting
future airport activity, and significant growth is expected. With the airport growing at a rate of 5 percent per year,
considerably higher than the national average of 2 percent, Puckli outlined a
20-year activity forecast for the airport that projects passenger activity to
double. “In the next 20 years we’re looking at 950,000 passengers,”
Puckli said. “Based on the growth we’ve seen, that’s not way out of line. It’s
pretty impressive growth.” Beaches
International has almost tripled the passenger rate of the old airport, from
150,000 to 427,000, and has increased the market share from 9 percent to 23
percent. “Now that we’ve seen the
growth, can that terminal building accommodate that growth? No it can’t. Can
that parking lot accommodate that growth? No it can’t,” Puckli said. “We’re
looking at what we can do to improve it as an air transportation facility and
an economic engine for the region.” Puckli
said a major part of the planning process will be to determine the best use for
the 4,000 acres of land the airport sits on, the majority of which is
undeveloped. He said a crosswind runway most
likely will be constructed within the 20-year planning period, but there are no
plans for a new runway at this time. After
activity forecasts are finalized, an appointed Technical
Advisory Committee will determine facility needs and recommend a
development program for the airport. A
second public workshop will be in February to discuss the committee’s progress
and gather further public input, and the airport board should be set to adopt a
final plan by mid-2013. A master plan is needed for
airports to be eligible to receive state and federal funding for
improvement projects. The process is funded primarily through grants from
the Federal Aviation Administration and the Florida Department of
Transportation. Puckli encouraged the community
to get involved in the process because public input is an essential part of the
airport of the future. “We’re trying to be as open as
we can be,” Puckli said. “Truly, this is your airport.”
No comments:
Post a Comment