Here’s the thing about Northwest Arkansas National Airport: It’s passenger growth in the past two years coupled with its massive construction project haven’t caused it to lose its appeal of being easy to navigate.
Even those who rarely fly are unlikely to feel intimidated at XNA. It’s easy to park, find the ticket counter, check a bag and find the right departure gate. The lines at the security checkpoint aren’t long most of the time, either, rarely snaking around every which way like they do at big-city airports.
The construction project, which will make the terminal look better and be more efficient, is an obstacle for now. Yet, it’s not all that disruptive as construction projects go.
We’re here in the final days of 2024 to rank this year’s best outcomes at XNA, an annual practice at FareFlightNWA.
In 2019, there was so much good that this “best of” list bloated to a Top 10. But most of the time, it’s a Top 5, and that’s the case in 2024.
Here’s our take on XNA’s best happenings.
No. 5: XNA Modernization
The airport is spending $34 million on its terminal modernization project so it ought to be good, right?
The construction started in 2023, and passengers can already see how much on it’s going to look and function when it’s all done. There’s a new terminal façade, new baggage carousels, an overhauled lobby with new flooring, new lighting, and escalators and elevators to move people up to the security checkpoint on the second floor.
The entire project should be done in late 2025.
No. 4: Delta to Detroit
It’d be difficult for a daily nonstop flight to a new destination to miss being on FareFlightNWA’s “best of” list, and that’s the case with Detroit. It’s not a huge destination from XNA’s so-called catchment area (just 21 people a day who live in the area closest to XNA get on a plane for the purpose of ending the day in Detroit).
But, with the nonstop, the XNA-Detroit travel is certain to increase. There are reasons to go to Detroit: the Lions are great, the Tigers had a solid season, and Michigan is a beautiful place to be in the summertime.
No. 3: American to Philadelphia
Remember the earlier mention of doing a Top 10 list in 2019? American’s nonstop to Philadelphia ranked No. 5 on that list. It was later canceled, probably because not enough people used it.
We’ll put it at No. 3 this year. The Philadelphia flight, which started on Dec. 19 this year, provides a new way to get to Europe as American has many international flights from the City of Brotherly Love.
It’s only a little better than Detroit in terms of how many people travel to the city from the region (28 a day), but the nonstop will drive that number higher. With the Liberty Bell, proximity to Atlantic City and impressive professional sports teams (Eagles, Phillies, etc.), Philadelphia has high tourism value. It’s the nation’s eighth largest metropolitan area so it’s an important business hub, too.
No. 2: Delta goes West
The temptation to put this at No. 1 was real, but Delta’s announcement of a daily nonstop to Salt Lake City will be No. 2.
It’s not that flying to Salt Lake City itself is more important than flying to Detroit or Philadelphia. It’s that the Delta flight goes west, allowing those who favor Delta to fly on a more direct path toward western cities.
People really do fly from XNA to Atlanta or Minneapolis and then they go west from there. Travel times will be reduced a bunch with SLC in play.
Of the three new nonstops, Salt Lake is the busiest destination. Forty-eight people a day from the region go to Salt Lake, but many of those fliers are catching Delta’s nonstop that leaves from the Tulsa airport (14 a day). it’s going to be interesting to see how many shift to XNA when the flight starts in February.
No. 1: Record passenger numbers
FareFlightNWA has created this list in four of the past five years (2020 was skipped due to COVID-19), but this is the first repeat “winner” at the top of the list.
XNA in 2023 saw 991,000 passengers (a new record), and this year it’ll top 1.1 million by the time all the counting is done. Through 11 months, XNA was already over 1 million departing passengers.
If pressed to define why traffic is up so much over 2023, look at American’s XNA increases. During a three-month period in 2023 (September, October and November), American had about 1,500 seats for sale on XNA departures. In those same months this year, it was more than 2,000 seats per day.
It wasn’t just American doing more. Delta and United Airlines in those same months had 150 to 250 more seats a day for sale than they did in 2023.
While the difference in available seats wasn’t as dramatic in the first half of the year, XNA just about always had more flights, bigger planes or both each day.
Just as importantly, Northwest Arkansas is growing fast, adding about 36 new residents a day to its population. With that daily infusion of new potential fliers, it would be most remarkable if XNA’s traffic wasn’t growing.
But it is growing, just like everywhere and everything else in Northwest Arkansas.
