Info: Prime commercial property at new Highway 266 (chestnut Expressway) West of I-44 leading from Deer Lake Corporate Park to the Springfield Regional Airport. Fronting a 4-way intersection is a 4 acre commercial tract within the Deer Lake Golf Course. Also included is a 14 acre commercial tract along the East side of the Golf Course ideal for an upscale RV park or corporate offices. With the Golf Course are lots for small office buildings overlooking the golf course. Land adjoining the West property line, 106 acres designed for large corporate office or call center, smaller corporate office, retail and hotel along Highway 266, apartment complex and townhouse development.
November 28, 2007 Section: Main Page: 1A
Terminal on pace to open in '09 Wes Johnson Staff
By Wes Johnson
News-Leader
The new $119 million passenger terminal at the Springfield Branson National Airport is about 35 percent complete and on track to open in February 2009.
The Springfield City Council took a bus tour of the site Tuesday, watching as crews worked on the steel frame of the 10-gate structure.
Passenger growth is about to exceed the old terminal's maximum capacity, said airport spokesman Kent Boyd.
"We're expecting 875,000 passengers this year, and its capacity is a million passengers," Boyd said. "The old place also has no room to expand. The new facility is expandable to 60 gates within 45 to 50 years."
The airport logged its biggest single-year increase in passengers in 2005. Travelers getting on and off airplanes hit 888,738, an increase of 23 percent.
Passenger numbers have dropped off by 1 or 2 percent in 2006 and 2007, in part because of poor winter weather. For example, Boyd said the airport was open during the January ice storm, but flights into Springfield were canceled because of the poor weather.
Passenger loads still are on track to exceed the current terminal's capacity by 2010.
When the new terminal opens, airport staffers are preparing for a bit of confusion.
"That's our biggest PR challenge," Boyd said. "One day they'll be flying out of this terminal and the next day it will be out of the new place. They'll come here (the old terminal) and be mad if they miss their plane."
To prevent those kinds of problems, the airport plans a media campaign before the new terminal opens.
And for those who miss that message, Boyd said the airport will run a shuttle service between the two terminals for a while.
When it's completed, the bigger terminal will accommodate up to 14 jets at a time.
Most of the flights out of Springfield are on smaller regional jets, but the new terminal was designed to handle jets as large as a Boeing 757.
Springfield is unlikely to attract a low-cost air carrier like Jet Blue until the five-county metropolitan statistical area population reaches 1 million people.
As of July 2006, the region's MSA was just over 407,000, according to U.S. Census figures.
As gasoline prices increase, it may become more economical to fly out of Springfield, Boyd said.
"The secret is to book flights early, at least three weeks out," he said. "If you book in advance you'll find it's not more than fifty or sixty dollars difference for many flights. If you figure the gas cost to drive to Tulsa or Kansas City, we compare pretty favorably."
Shawn Schroeder, assistant director of aviation, said the new terminal was designed to be convenient for travelers.
"The building will be a one-level terminal," he told the council. "No customers will be walking up or down any escalators."
City Councilman Denny Whayne liked what he saw.
"I'm very impressed with what they've done so far," Whayne said after the tour. "I particularly like that it will be a customer-friendly airport on one level."
The new terminal just west of the existing one is being paid for with $100 million in revenue bonds issued by the airport and $19 million in Federal Aviation Administration funds.
The bonds will be paid back through revenues generated by the airport.
For more information about the project go to the airport's Web site, www.flyspringfield.com