HIGHFILL - The Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority hired the Gresham, Smith and Partners architectural firm to design a new concourse for the airport, airport administrators said Tuesday.
The design work is expected to cost about $1.45 million, with the concourse itself costing between $20 million and $25 million if the project is approved.
The new concourse would be the third major expansion of the Alice L. Walton Terminal since early 2006. The baggage claim area was expanded last year, and a $4.45 million expansion of the ticket counter and security checkpoint is under way.
Airport Authority board member Tommy Deweese said a new concourse would help the airport draw such a discount carrier as Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways or AirTran Airways.
"It's going to let us be more attractive to a low-cost carrier," Deweese said.
Passenger boardings are rising at the Northwest Arkansas airport, but not at the rate they once were.
The airport saw 179,080 passengers during the first four months of the year, a 1.7 percent increase over the same period last year. Last year's passenger increase was 0.4 percent ahead of 2005.
Those figures differ markedly from the 12 percent or more increases in each of the previous three years.
Airport Executive Director Scott Van Laningham believes the slower growth can be tied to decisions by the airlines to use smaller jets to serve the airport.
A Federal Aviation Administration grant is expected to cover 95 percent of the concourse design. The rest will come from a state grant if the design is approved by the Arkansas Aeronautics Commission or from airport revenue if it fails to win approval, said Airport Director Kelly Johnson.
This article was published 05/23/2007
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy
News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.
