Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) in Highfill was recently awarded $20.1 million from the state to help pay for the terminal renovation and air traffic control tower projects. The airport also will receive $100,000 from Alice Walton to help pay for a terminal gallery for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
In the XNA Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday (March 4), CEO Aaron Burkes said the state money “is not something that is given out very often,” unlike the Federal Aviation Administration grants that XNA receives.
“This was a really big ask that we made and a really big gift,” he said. “This was in a fund that…the state had set up for an infrastructure matching fund for projects that were primarily federally funded.”
About $15 million will go toward the terminal project, and $5 million will go toward the tower. Burkes said those projects will be 100% paid for with federal and state money.
The $36.5 million project to renovate the terminal was slated to be completed in the third quarter of this year. Hight Jackson Associates designed the project. Nabholz is the general contractor. The 141-foot-tower was designed by AJT Engineering, Garver and Hight Jackson. The $17.57 million project was planned to be completed by the end of this year. Crossland Construction is the general contractor.
He said the money the airport had planned to use for those projects will be used for other projects.
Burkes also highlighted XNA’s record enplanements in 2024, which exceeded the national average growth of 4% to 5%. XNA’s enplanements, or passengers flying out, rose by 15.78% to 1.14 million in 2024 from 991,489 in 2023. January enplanements increased by 13.84% to 80,505 from 70,716 in the same month last year. February enplanements are expected to become available later this month.
“We’re higher every single month, every single year,” he said. “It’s just really consistent, strong growth.”
By comparison, enplanements at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, the state’s largest commercial airport, rose by 4.81% to 1.17 million in 2024 from 1.12 million in 2023. January enplanements rose by 2.99% to 76,869 from 74,637 in the same month in 2024. Enplanements for Fort Smith Regional Airport, the state’s third-largest commercial airport, increased by 1.21% to 61,409 in 2024 from 60,669 in 2023. January enplanements increased by 6.67% to 4,280 from 4,012 in the same month in 2024.
Burkes said XNA continues to narrow the airfare gap among peer and competitor airports. Third-quarter 2024 data shows XNA’s average round-trip airfare is $433 or $13 less than Springfield-Branson (Mo.) National Airport, $11 more than Tulsa International Airport and $3 more than Clinton National Airport. Compared to its 12 peer airports, XNA’s airfare is $2 more.
“Traditionally, because of our customer mix being a lot of business travelers, we tended to have a lot of late bookings, a lot more expensive ticket prices,” he said. “So this is really fantastic to see, and…a great way I think for us to get a sense of how well we’re serving our market.”
XNA recently added three new board members: Tom Allen, Darryl Riddell, and August Martin, who replaced those whose terms ended Dec. 31.
Burkes said Martin, chief financial officer for Art and Wellness Enterprises in Bentonville, brought news about Walton’s gift to his first meeting on the XNA board. Art and Wellness Enterprises supports the operating nonprofits Walton founded. She is the only daughter of Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton.
In December, XNA board members approved a $516,447 contract for Nabholz to build the gallery, which will be located past the security checkpoint. Work is expected to be completed by late June.
Following are other items the board discussed or approved Tuesday.
• Offer a 10-year contract for an Onyx Coffee Lab, or OnyXNA, to be located at the front of the terminal before the security checkpoint. Onyx plans to invest $500,000 into the new location.
• Spend up to $1.03 million for Garver to survey, design, and provide cost estimates and bidding services for a general aviation building and site work. XNA has plans to take over the fixed-based operator’s operations in 2028. XNA wants to add the new building before the change to ensure a smooth transition and provide a space to operate from while renovating the adjacent existing structure. Burkes said the fixed-based operator sells about 16 million gallons of jet fuel annually.
• XNA continues to seek to detach from Highfill. The Arkansas Supreme Court recently denied Highfill’s appeal to block XNA’s filing to detach from the city. XNA filed the petition to detach with Benton County on Oct. 4, and it is pending. A decision on this is expected by the summer.
• XNA is awaiting the grid connection of its solar array, which Today’s Power Inc. built. Burkes said the array is expected to save the airport more than $100,000 annually. Today’s Power is working with Carroll Electric Cooperative to connect it, which is hoped to happen by this summer.
• TranSystems showed various plans for a multi-level parking garage for rental car companies. The most likely sites for the garage would be to the west or east of the terminal. A cost estimate has yet to be set.
• Hight Jackson and a team of designers and consultants provided updates on the plans to add multiple gates to the west side of the terminal. Plans include adding five gates to accommodate the narrowbody aircraft that are becoming more prevalent at XNA. The 50,000- to 60,000-square-foot expansion was estimated at $50 million to $60 million.