Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Bay County has record year in 2023
PANAMA CITY BEACH − The Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport has again logged another record year.
According to December's activity report, which airport officials released Wednesday, the airport served 100,453 passengers during the month, bringing its grand total of passengers for 2023 to 1,660,479. This is 61,987 more passengers than it served during 2021, which previously held the record.
"We knew that we had been busy, but you never want to start predicting the future," said Parker McClellan, executive director of the airport. "With everything that's happening around the world and the economy, you have to always be mindful of (dips in) discretionary travel, which is what a lot of the travel to our area is."
McClellan, along with Mark Sheldon, mayor of Panama City Beach and vice chairman of the Airport Authority, said they think 2021 will now be the facility's new baseline moving forward.
According to past reports, ECP experienced an unprecedented surge of passengers in 2021, following travel restrictions enacted in 2020 because of the COVD-19 pandemic. Last year's success proved such trends are the new norm.
"That's exactly how it feels for us," Sheldon said of 2021 being the new baseline. "(It) started the trend for us, and now we're just seeing it. People continue to find northwest Florida, and they love coming to Panama City Beach.
To help the airport better serve its growing number of passengers, it has a few construction projects underway. This includes an $8 million project to expand the baggage area and a $3.2 million project to expand the terminal. Both are scheduled to be complete sometime this spring.
Southern Sky Aviation, an aircraft maintenance company out of Alabama, also is building a more than $25 million fixed-based operator, or FBO, on about 11 acres at ECP. Like the other two projects, construction of the FBO should be complete sometime this spring. FBOs are terminals for small private and corporate planes.
"We have some milestones that we're trying to meet for spring break ... because that's when we start getting busy again," McClellan said. "Overall, things are moving in the right direction. With any construction project, they don't go as quickly as you'd like, but we're very comfortable with where we are."
Booming success: 'Continued Growth': NWF Beaches International Airport on track to have busiest year ever
Looking ahead, Sheldon said he thinks as the airport continues to grow, it will incorporate more direct flights and possibly even more airlines, creating a snowball effect for the number of tourists who travel to the area each year.
"We're just seeing such a demand from so many areas," he said. "We're doing all we can to keep up with the growth."
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: NW Florida Beaches International Airport sets passenger record in 2023
