XNA enplanements exceed 2024 record as of November

Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) in Benton County has surpassed its 2024 enplanements, or passengers flying out, as of November.

Between January and November, enplanements increased by 11.3% to 1.16 million from 1.04 million in the same period last year. Enplanements in 2024 were 1.14 million, the first year they surpassed 1 million.

CEO Aaron Burkes presented the numbers to the XNA Board of Directors on Tuesday (Dec. 16). He said monthly enplanements over the past three years have continued to rise “every single month of every single year, exceeding the previous year’s top month.”

He said the trend looks to continue, with November enplanements rising by 2.9% to 101,800 from 98,892 in the same month in 2024. He noted that growth in November was impacted by the government shutdown, with reports of people canceling flights because of concerns about being stranded. He said the cancellations have carried over into December.

Throughput through the security checkpoint is up about 3.6% so far in December, but this could change over the remainder of the month. The projection is 1.26 million enplanements for the year, up 10.5% over 2024.

“We’re going to finish the year very strong,” he said. “We had huge, huge growth last year, so for us to continue to have growth over last year is pretty incredible.”

Burkes attributed the rise to the airport capturing a larger share of its market. He cited a Mead & Hunt report released in February showing that the Northwest Arkansas metro area’s population increased at a compounded annual rate of 1.6% from 2000 to 2022. But between 2000 and 2024, enplanements rose at a compounded annual rate of 4.9%. He added that XNA’s market extends beyond the metro area and includes counties where population growth is slower or declining.

The report shows XNA is expected to have 2.8% to 3.8% enplanement growth from 2024 to 2050, with more than 2.3 million enplanements by 2050.

“Next year is not going to be like the last two years,” Burkes said. “I’m certain of that.”

He said the enplanement growth has tracked with the average number of airplane seats available to XNA. Over the past two years, XNA has experienced double-digit seat growth. However, the seats available to XNA in the first quarter of 2026 are up 1% compared to the same quarter in 2025. The airlines provide the numbers based on demand estimates, which can change.

The airport offers nonstop flights to 27 destinations. Six airlines operate the flights at the airport. Burkes said Tulsa (Okla.) International Airport offers the same number of direct flights.

“The market is so much bigger in Tulsa,” he said. “I mean, it’s a 75% bigger market. And it’s been kind of surprising that we had more direct destinations than they did for a long period of time.”

Average airfares are about $7 higher at XNA than at Tulsa International Airport. They were more than $150 higher at XNA in 2018. XNA’s airfares are narrowly higher than Springfield-Branson (Mo.) National Airport, but they were more than $100 higher at XNA.

Since September 2024, XNA’s enplanements have exceeded those of Clinton National Airport in Little Rock. Between January and October, enplanements and Clinton National Airport declined by 0.55% to 974,719 from 980,130 in the same period in 2024.

Between January and November, enplanements at Fort Smith Regional Airport, the state’s third-largest commercial airport, increased by 1.6% to 57,358 from 56,430 in the same period in 2024.

During the meeting Tuesday, the board approved increasing Burkes’ salary by 5% to $303,162.81 from $288,726.49 last year. The board also approved a $25,000 bonus for him.

In March, the board is expected to vote on naming its new officers, including vice chair Jerry Walton to become chairman and Tom Lundstrum to be vice chair. Jonathan Barnett is set to be secretary, while Martine Downs Pollard remains treasurer.