XNA sees record enplanements in 2023
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The Northwest Arkansas National Airport had the most enplanements of all time in the history of the airport in 2023.
Olivia Tyler, public affairs manager at XNA says the airport had about 991,000 enplanements.
Enplanements are the amount of revenued passengers that board an aircraft such as airline workers and vendors.
Bentonville Municipal Airport receives $300,000 grant from Arkansas Department of Aeronautics
Tyler says the growth of the area and region helped make this possible.
“It’s also the implementation of those low-cost carriers so that leisure travelers have an additional option here at XNA,” Tyler said.
According to the 2020, U.S. Census Population data, Bentonville has seen a 53.4% increase since 2010.
According to Visit Bentonville, a tax collection in 2023 indicated a record-breaking tourism and dining economy.
“It’s an appealing place for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons, and that has driven population growth,” said Brandom Gengelbach, chief executive officer at the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce.
He says many amenities draw people to the community.
“We’ve got outdoor recreation and cycling. We’ve got really good quality schools, boutique hotels and restaurants,” Gengelbach said. “You’ve got a really strong job market with most of the consumer product brands in the entire country here in one location, and you have a family-friendly environment with amazing art and culture that you can have.”
XNA is also constantly growing and Tyler said they have several construction projects and renovation upgrades.
One of the future projects is a new hotel for those who travel to Northwest Arkansas.
“It’s so early on in the process, it was mostly just saying ‘Hey, heads up,’” Tyler said.
“It is an amenity for the passengers that we are excited for, and they will proceed with negotiations for the hotel,” Tyler said. “But the proposer that met with the board yesterday really said that this hotel would be aimed and marketed towards the business traveler.”
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