Valley airports preparing for more private jet traffic during Super Bowl week
Jan 21, 2015, 7:00 AM | Updated: Jan 28, 2015, 9:29 am
PHOENIX — With many company CEO’s and celebrities flying their private jets to the valley next week for the Super Bowl and Waste Management Phoenix Open festivities, Sky Harbor isn’t the only valley airport expecting a busy week.
Scottsdale is the closest municipal airport to the Open and many of the Super Bowl party festivities, and it expects up to a 54 percent jump in airplane landings compared to a normal week. That is based on what happened the last time the Valley hosted a Super Bowl, which was in 2008.
“We took a typical weekend and compared it with what happened during the Super Bowl, and came up with the 54 percent increase,” said Sarah Ferrara, the planning and outreach coordinator for the Scottsdale Airport.
She said the airport is working hard to prepare for the weekend.
“We are moving aircraft and making space available,” Ferrara said. “We’ve implemented a reservation system for that weekend to make it an efficient flow-through in traffic.”
At least three other Valley airports are gearing up for more traffic during the Super Bowl. Phoenix aviation officials say Deer Valley airport hosted 200 additional aircraft that landed and parked there during the last Super Bowl and is ready to do that again. Phoenix Goodyear Airport can handle up to 150 additional aircraft.
Even though it is farther away from the Super Bowl than any other valley airport, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport is still expecting to handle about 90 private planes. It’s also expecting a jump in commercial airline passengers during Super Bowl week.
“Allegiant is the only air carrier at Gateway right now, but they do service into (Mesa from) Bellingham, Washington, which is about an hour and a half away from downtown Seattle,” said Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Spokesman Brian Sexton.
Sexton said that should send more Seattle Seahawks fans through the airport.
“So we expect to have an increase in ticket sales on Allegiant, and possibly some new charter flight operations and an increased frequency in flights from the Seattle-Bellingham, Washington area,” said Sexton.
There’s no definite word yet from Allegiant on whether it plans to increase the number of flights into Mesa during Super Bowl Week.
