NWF Beaches Airport in Bay County off to hot start in 2024, already up 11% for passengers

PANAMA CITY − After logging a record year in 2023, the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport already is off to a hot start in 2024.

According to the airport's activity report from January, the facility, also know as ECP, serviced 86,288 passengers during the month. This is 11%, or 8,631, more passengers than it serviced during the same time last year.

It should be noted that 2023 set the record as the busiest year in ECP's history. More than 1.66 million passengers passed through the airport. This was almost 62,000 more than in 2021, which previously held the record.

"The continued growth of the airport really reflects the continued growth of our community," Parker McClellan, executive director of ECP, said. "From a tourism standpoint, it looks good. From a business standpoint, it looks good. We're excited to be part of that."

For McClellan, it came as no surprise that the momentum of 2023 carried over into 2024.

"When you had the growth that we had last year, I would anticipate that it would continue this year," he said. "January doesn't really surprise me that it's up. ... People are adjusting to whatever the new normal is, (and it) includes a lot of people working from an IP address.

"Those are the things we see everyday − more and more people are traveling."

As ECP continues to grow, it has a few construction projects underway to better help serve passengers. This includes an $8 million project to expand the baggage area and a $3.2 million project to expand the terminal.

McClellan said Monday that he expects for both to be complete by late May or early June. He said the facility also has opened more than 500 new parking spaces over the past year.

Record year: Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Bay County has record year in 2023

Southern Sky Aviation, an aircraft maintenance company out of Alabama, also is building a more than $25 million fixed-based operator on about 11 acres at ECP. It is slated to open April 1. FBOs are terminals for small private and corporate planes.

"There are a lot of moving parts right now and a lot of things in the works," McClellan said.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: NWF Beaches Airport off to hot start in 2024, with 11% more passengers