Horry County Drops Plans for New Terminal at Airport

Horry County officials issued a formal death notice on plans for a new terminal at the Myrtle Beach airport last week, but not before spending $330,000 in a last-ditch bid to get the project off the ground.

The Grand Strand's airline industry is in heavy turbulence these days, as a fleet of cheap seats recently took off for good. Hooters Air, which hawked hot wings and hot ticket sales, went out of business last year, shortly before AirTran Airways dumped Myrtle Beach in favor of Charleston.

An aviation consultant hired by Myrtle Beach tourism promoters said Horry County may have problems winning back service because of high fees.

The Boyd Group, which also has done work for the Charleston County Aviation Authority, said the Myrtle Beach airport charges airlines $8.56 per passenger, about twice as much as other destinations it studied.

With heady fees and 18 percent fewer seats, a new 14-gate, $229 million terminal seems like the last thing Myrtle Beach needs. But passenger traffic at the airport is up 23 percent, mostly thanks to Direct Air, a charter service launched in March by a former Hooters executive and the owner of a firm that sells golf tours.

The carrier flies twice a week to Pittsburgh, Newark, N.J., and Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Horry County has asked Uncle Sam for $625,000 to help Direct Air lease another 737 and tack three more destinations onto its route map: Dallas, Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Rockford, Ill.

As for new gates, the Boyd Group recommended a cheap terminal, reportedly admonishing the county: "Don't build a Taj Mahal."

Horse race

Those who get steamed about downtown carriage tours now have more fuel to add to a fiery debate.

A traffic consultant hired by the city recently finished a study showing that travel times will increase by almost 50 percent if carriages are allowed on some of the busiest peninsula streets between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Using software that programmed carriages as slow-moving buses, the report found that driving times on a 1.1-mile route meandering between East Bay and Meeting streets will stretch from just under five minutes to just under seven and a half minutes.

City Council will start studying the report in August.

Turtle triage

Stealing a page from the playbook of the South Carolina Aquarium, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center will open Saturday just south of Savannah on Jekyll Island.

The facility will charge from $4 to $6 and offer museum-like interactive exhibits and access to a "hospital," where up to 15 sea turtles will be convalescing at any given time.

Reach Kyle Stock at 937-5763 or [email protected]

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