An enhanced program at Northwest Arkansas National Airport boosts the reward to airlines willing to start nonstop service to nine high-priority destinations.
Olivia Tyler, the airport’s business development and public affairs manager, on Tuesday asked the airport’s board members to approve the program, placing the highest priority on new flights to San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Austin. The board gave unanimous approval.
Airlines willing to fly to any of those four so-called “Tier 1 target markets” will receive $40,000 for each day of the week the flight operates. An airline that flies once a day to Seattle or one of the other three cities would receive $280,000 in marketing support for one year of air service. That incentive is cut in half in Year 2 and ends at the start of Year 3.
Additionally, an airline providing service to a Tier 1 city would receive a two-year waiver on landing fees. Because an airline pays between $400 and $600 at XNA every time its plane lands (the fee is higher if the plane weighs more), that waiver over two years would be worth about $400,000 if the airline flew nonstop to the destination once a day.
In all, the incentive for a daily flight to one of those Tier 1 cities could be worth more than $800,000.
The incentive remains significant for nonstop flights to five Tier 2 markets: San Diego, Sacramento, San Antonio, Raleigh and Portland, Ore. Airlines flying to those cities would receive $30,000 for each day of the week the flight operates in Year 1, and $15,000 for each day of the week the flight operates in Year 2. Additionally, landing fees would be waived for 18 months.
All nine of the Tier 1 and 2 destinations are among the top 30 destinations in XNA’s so-called catchment area. The area is a geographic zone within a 90-minute drive of XNA, and it includes portions of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
At the top of the airport’s list of unserved markets is Seattle, which sees more than 70 people a day fly there. About half of those people use XNA, and the remainder are most often flying from airports in Kansas City, Tulsa or the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.
Smaller numbers of travelers fly from the catchment area to get to San Francisco (68 passengers a day), Austin (48), Boston (43), San Diego (41), Portland (39), Sacramento (34), San Antonio (27) and Raleigh (26).
Incentivizing airlines
Airlines take a risk when they start new routes, and airports’ incentives reduce that risk. If an airport can help an airline move through what can be a choppy start-up phase and create more time for the route to evolve into one that can stand on its own, it provides a long-term benefit to the airport and its travelers.
Incentives can be millions of dollars. Indianapolis International Airport, for example, has what’s considered one of the most aggressive offerings: $5.5 million for a nonstop flight to Paris, France. The same airport will provide a $1.5 million revenue guarantee for nonstop service to San Francisco.
Tulsa International Airport offers its own incentives for nonstop service to specific target markets. For its highest priority destinations, Tulsa’s program maxes out at $150,000 in marketing dollars for an airline willing to fly at least four times each week to a prioritized destination, and it’s half as much in Year 2. The landing fee waiver over two years matches the XNA offering. The total package’s value over two years would be $625,000.
Previous service from XNA
Four of the nine Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities identified by XNA were once among its nonstop destinations.
The most significant of those destination investments came from United Airlines, which flew daily to San Francisco from late 2015 to early 2020. That important business route provided what was described as a “jet bridge” between Walmart’s home office in Bentonville and the company’s office locations in San Bruno and other San Francisco area cities.
Allegiant Air tried Austin service, flying twice a week from XNA starting in mid-2021. The service lasted for about one year.
San Antonio was among the three cities served by Breeze Airways when it first started service at XNA in mid-2021. The route ended in 2024.
The first of the four cities to become an XNA destination was Raleigh, which was served by American Eagle with a daily trip on a 37-seat regional jet from 2007 to 2009.
