$20 Million ExpansionrnAimed to Elevate XNA

Despite a price tag of about $20 million, executive director Scott Van Laningham said the ongoing expansion at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is more about functionality than fanciful frills.

“We’re not trying to be the Taj Mahal of airports,” Van Laningham said, “but we are trying to take it a step up and be a little bit nicer.”

A recent tour given by airport director Kelly Johnson showed that mission is well on its way to being accomplished. More gates and improved concession offerings and amenities should provide XNA visitors a bigger-city feel.

Renovations of existing space also will establish a “sense of place,” both Johnson and Van Laningham said, and new areas dedicated to exhibiting local art and history pieces will spruce up the airport’s relatively drab interior considerably.

“It’s going to have a more sophisticated feel and we’ve got a pretty sophisticated clientele,” Johnson said.

 

A History of Expansion

When XNA was being built and prepared for its 1998 grand opening, Van Laningham said the focus was almost exclusively on providing the basic services an airport is expected to offer.

“It was all about what you had to have,” Van Laningham said.

Original plans did leave room, however, for expansion, and XNA has seen its share over the years. The airport opened with 78,700 SF of space in 1998.

Since then, additions have included:

• 14,910 SF for a covered walkway that leads passengers to and from the lower-level gates of the terminal to waiting aircraft.
• 8,900 additional SF in the baggage claim area.
• 23,669 SF in an expanded security checkpoint area and ticket counter space.

All of those projects were needed, and resulted in nice upgrades and additions, Johnson and Van Laningham said.

“Except we had no more gates to park planes,” Van Laningham added with a smile.

That will change when the new addition opens. Current projections point to a September opening.

When that happens, 54,192 SF of new upper-level concourse and terminal space and another 5,388 SF of ramp-level space will be put to use. The space available to the public “will be just about double” the current setup, Johnson said.

The Dallas office of Gresham Smith and Partners is serving as the architect for the project, with Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Inc. working to “oversee and coordinate” locally, Johnson said.

Van Laningham said XNA administrators went to the airport’s board of directors several years ago with a proposal regarding the current expansion. A decision then was made to bank federal entitlement grants of more than $3 million per year.

That supplied more than $10.1 million in funds, Van Laningham said.

For the remainder of the money, “we were able to draw down our reserves,” Van Laningham added. “We were able to do it without incurring any debt.”

Also aiding in the avoidance of debt, Johnson said, was the timing of the expansion. Bids were opened Feb. 2, 2010, during a time when many construction companies were struggling due to the economic downturn.

Johnson said the bids came in about $5 million under the estimate provided by Gresham Smith and Partners.

The result, Van Laningham said, is an expansion that will result in “a significant, dramatic increase in size and space, but also an upgrade in the quality of the whole structure.”

 

Food and Drink

Perhaps one of the biggest changes regular visitors to XNA will notice will be in the concession offerings. The former providers had an initial 10-year agreement – as well as some extensions – but new options were explored once the decision to expand was made.

A changeover took place during the last week of May, and a host of new options will become available between now and the opening of the airport’s new wing. Johnson said The Paradies Shops LLC has invested about $2.4 million in the new offerings.

For starters, there will be a 2,500-SF bar/restaurant called Ozark Grill. The eatery essentially will offer the same options as the Sam Adams Brew House line found in numerous airports from coast to coast.

Due to XNA’s location in a dry county and Arkansas’ alcohol laws, however, its new restaurant could not include the Sam Adams name. Ongoing construction also is necessary to shield the pouring and consumption of alcoholic beverages from the general public.

What’s not a secret, though, is the fact a more modern bar will result in increased revenues. For frequent airport travelers, Van Laningham said Ozark Grill will offer “a more traditional experience.”

There also will be a CNBC news and gift store, 1,650 SF that also will include the Arkansas Traveler, which Johnson said will sell “lighter, café-type” fare. Another CNBC outlet will be located near one of the new gates. It will be about 650 SF and sell newspapers, magazines and such, along with some packaged food.

Additionally, a 550-SF Boar’s Head Express will provide grab-and-go sandwiches, while Jammin’ Java will give customers a local coffee option just inside XNA’s main entrance. It will be Jammin’ Java’s fourth location and measure between 200 and 300 SF.

All of the new concessions will combine with amenities like free wireless Internet access, dedicated work stations, upgraded seating options with an abundance of adjacent window space to provide “a big plus for the public,” Johnson said.

 

Price Point

The addition of 11 new gates, combined with the reorganization of some of XNA’s current space, will result in a net gain of eight gates, Van Laningham said. And while five of those already have been claimed by American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, the remaining three are available.

(Note: Space for a 12th gate to be added at a later date also is being added.)

Van Laningham said discussions with airlines to take the three current open spots are ongoing.

The hope in many circles is a low-cost carrier will find XNA an attractive destination.

That, theoretically, would help lower XNA’s high ticket prices, of which Johnson said the administration is “painfully aware.”

Van Laningham said XNA currently offers direct flights to 16 destinations and about 50 flights a day, and the additional gates ideally will give the airport the “ability to attract other carriers and bring more competition to the market, and hopefully better airline ticket prices.”

Johnson said an independent study “a few years ago” showed 13 percent of potential travelers chose other airports, with 11 percent of them settling on Tulsa. Results from an updated study are expected within the next four to six weeks.

Johnson also warned, however, that recruiting new carriers takes time, often as many as three years. It took four years to reach an agreement with Allegiant Air.

“You can’t sell them a destination that doesn’t make sense,” she said.

The $20 million expansion project, however, should help those efforts.

“We’ve got an empty ticket counter, we’ve got an empty gate,” Johnson said. “Now it’s our job to go sell it.”