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Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport
Wins Final FAA Approval

May 23rd Grand Opening Right on Schedule

Panama City, Florida – (May 11, 2010) – The Panama City Bay County Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority) today announced that Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport has received its Part 139 Airport Operating Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. The new airport is scheduled to begin service Sunday, May 23.

“This is a significant milestone in the development of Northwest Florida’s newest airport,” said Airport Authority Chairman Joe Tannehill. “We want to thank our partners at the FAA in helping us to ensure that the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport meets all federal aviation safety requirements. This is indeed great news.”

As part of the certification process, FAA inspectors tested the new airport’s 10,000-foot runway, instrument landing equipment, navigational system, runway lighting and air traffic control tower. FAA air traffic controllers are now training in the control tower in preparation of the May 23rd opening.

Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is still awaiting final approval from the Transportation Security Administration and a Certificate of Occupancy from Bay County for the 125,000-square-foot passenger terminal.

In other action today, the Airport Authority agreed to lease space at the new airport to Thrifty Car Rental. That brings to six the number of car rental companies that will be operating in the new airport. The others are: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz and National.

The $318-million Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is the first commercial-service international airport built in the U.S. in the past 15 years. The new airport and its 10,000-foot runway are built on approximately 1,300 acres of a 4,000-acre site. The 125,000-square-foot passenger terminal features seven gates, two restaurants, two retail shops and six car rental ticketing counters.

Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines will offer daily nonstop service to Atlanta, Memphis, Orlando, Cincinnati, Houston, Baltimore and Nashville.

Contact:
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport
Randy Curtis, Executive Director, 850-763-6751 ext. 203

PAT KELLY / News Herald Writer
WEST BAY — With less than two weeks to go, Airport Authority board chairman Joe Tannehill said the planned May 23 opening of the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is moving forward with no “deal breakers” on the horizon.

“I think as far as Delta goes, and as far as Southwest goes, and as far as the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) goes, and as far as the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) goes, everything that needs to be done is in good hands,” Tannehill said Monday.

Jeff Dealy of KBR, program manager for the airport relocation project, said one decisive milestone will be a final TSA inspection next week of the fencing and badging (area-access) system. The TSA already has approved the facility’s $4 million baggage-handling system.

FAA officials were at the site Friday and the airport is expected to receive a crucial commercial service certification this week, Dealy said. That certification involves a check of employee training and documentation, aircraft rescue and firefighting procedures and a review of the airport’s emergency plans.

Tannehill said the ticket counters, security, rental car counters and other crucial components “will all be completed and ready for business” by the planned opening.

Airport Authority board members will gather this morning for their only meeting of the month, and there still are unresolved issues, such as the completion of the airport’s stormwater drainage system, particularly a fix to Pond C, Tannehill said.

“That is an ongoing issue that won’t affect the opening,” Tannehill said. “It won’t be a deal breaker as far as the opening of the airport. A lot of people are working very hard to do what needs to be done. I’m very confident.”

Crews have been racing to meet the May 23 deadline and complete the construction of the drainage filtration system, including Pond C, which airport board members recently discovered would need a $2 million “fix” to meet Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) specifications.

The DEP has said the airport faces daily fines if the filtration system, meant to clean stormwater before its release into the West Bay watershed, does not meet permit specifications.

Meanwhile, the Airport Authority has announced that a free shuttle service will assist travelers who park their cars and depart from the old Panama City-Bay County International Airport in Panama City, but don’t return until after the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport opens May 23 near West Bay.

The existing airport will be shut down May 22 and all airport operations transferred to the new airport. The shuttle will transport passengers and their luggage from the new airport to the old to retrieve their vehicles.

“We will continue to shuttle passengers back to the old airport until all the cars in the parking lot have been retrieved,” Tannehill said. “Rest assured that we won’t leave anyone stranded.”

A grand opening gala has been planned for the May 23 weekend, including the flight of two Southwest planes without passengers into the airport on Saturday, May 22, Tannehill said.

The Southwest planes will leave with passengers when the airport officially opens Sunday, May 23.

Free Tickets for Grand Opening May 22
Posted: 07 May 2010 12:50 AM PDT
As reported by The News Herald:

Free tickets are available for the May 22 community grand opening celebration of the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.

Event coordinator Tammala Spencer said the day-long event will be free and open to the public, but tickets will be required. They will be available at several locations throughout Bay County, as well as one location in Walton County.

“We want to have as firm a count as we can of how many people will be coming,” Spencer said Thursday.

Spencer said the celebration, to be held at the new airport near West Bay just north of County 388, will include local and regional bands, including two local high school bands, food and drink vendors and tours of the new airport terminal building.

A grand opening ribbon-cutting will be held sometime between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. that Saturday, Spencer said. The first plane will land on the new 10,000-runway, although Spencer would not say whether it would be Southwest Airlines or Delta Air Lines, the carriers that will operate from the new airport. Water cannons will be deployed as part of the celebration, she said.

The first day of routine passenger operations for the new $318 million airport is set for May 23, with the first flight — a Southwest flight to Orlando — scheduled to depart at 7:25 a.m., according to Southwest’s website.

“We hope everyone comes and helps us celebrate,” she said.

A free parking pass for May 22 can be downloaded from the Web site www.northwestfloridabeaches.com.