DALLAS -- A proposed airport in northwest Arkansas has received environmental approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, and construction on the $144 million project could begin early next year, an airport official said yesterday.
The FAA issued a favorable decision last week, clearing the way for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority to obtain some of the $94 million that it requested in federal funds, airport spokesman Scott Van Laningham said. Site selection and feasibility studies already are finished for the airport, which would serve commercial airline passengers.
"All of those are favorable, and we are ready to move forward and build a new airport," Van Laningham said.
He said the authority could receive about $10 million in federal funds as early as next month to help pay for acquisition of about 2,250 acres for the new airport, which would replace Drake Field in Fayetteville, Ark. Other funds could become available later, he said.
After buying the land, which is situated about 15 miles northwest of Springdale, Ark., the authority plans to issue more than $40 million in airport revenue bonds before construction begins in the first quarter of 1995. No specific timetable or size for bond issuance has been determined, but the Llama Co. and PaineWebber Inc. will serve as co-senior managers.
If all goes as scheduled, the airport would open in 1998 with one 8,800-foot runway. Another could be built later to handle rapidly growing passenger traffic in northwest Arkansas, where airport facilities currently are limited.
Five major airlines, Delta, American, USAir, TWA, and Northwest. serve Drake Field with their commuter affiliates, but they cannot bring larger aircraft in because of the short runway. American and Delta, which combined have about two-thirds of the market share at Drake Field, have written letters indicating that they would support better facilities.
"You can't get jets into this airport. That is a large part of the problem," Van Laningham said.
He said expansion at Drake Field would be difficult. "It is located in a valley, and it has mountains on three sides and a river on the other side."
Meantime, population and air traffic is booming in Washington and Benton counties in northwest Arkansas. The region, which is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, has been buoyed by expansions of WalMart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt Trucking Co. Population has increased 12% annually during the past several years in Washington and Benton counties and now totals about 210,000.
Passenger boardings at Drake Field have grown by 200% in the last decade to about 200,000, and are predicted to almost double to between 350,000 to 400,000 by the time the new airport opens, Van Laningham said.
Drake Field has about 40 departing flights a day and is one of the busiest single-runway fields in the South.
To accommodate future growth, the Airport Authority hopes to acquire all the land at once, 2,250 acres for the first phase of construction and an additional 500 acres for a second phase, Van Laningham said. Up to 60 parcels of rural farmland would have to be purchased to complete the plan, displacing some farmers.
