GAINING ALTITUDE
Bellingham Airport expansion driven by heavy traffic from Canadian travelers By Evan Marczynski evan@bbjtoday.com
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ike many who own homes near the Bellingham International Airport, Ahwren Ayers has noticed the swelling number of jets cruising over her neighborhood just off Northwest Avenue. Fueled by an increase in Canadian passengers seeking cheap flights out of U.S. airports, about five times as many people will fly out of Bellingham this year than in 2005. With airport officials expecting more traffic, Ayers – who owns My Pet’s Place, a dog and cat grooming business on Dupont Street – and other residents and business owners are saying now is the time to address the potential effects of expansion. “This impacts all of Whatcom County, and unfortunately some people are not hearing about it,” she said. “We’re the ones who live here, who were born here, who have businesses here.” Port of Bellingham officials have begun gathering comments as they move through initial stages updating the airport’s master plan, expected to be complete by early 2013. Consultants from URS Corp. of Seattle, which is conducting the update process, projects the combined total of annual takeoffs and landings at the Bellingham airport could increase from 5,500 in 2011 to nearly 14,000 by 2031. If growth materializes, in two decades more than 1 million passengers could travel through the airport’s terminal each year. Lead consultant John Yarnish said the airport boomed with the
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May 2012
OFFICE SPACE FOR ALL, P. 8
PORT STEPPING UP AS ECONOMIC DRIVER Officials hope to bridge the gap between the state, private business
By Evan Marczynski evan@bbjtoday.com
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An Allegiant MD-80 jet sits on the apron at the Bellingham International Airport. (Inset) Construction of a new departure gate building was part of the first phase in the airport’s expansion. EVAN MARCZYNSKI PHOTOS
2004 arrival of Allegiant Air, a low-cost carrier operating in 77 cities nationwide. Low-cost airlines attract customers with cheap fares and flights to locations generally not served by major carriers. To make up for losses in ticket
sales, they concentrate on quick turnarounds at gates and usually eliminate perks such as free beverage service, priority boarding and assigned seating. Allegiant began with direct flights to Las Vegas, Nev., where the airline’s parent firm, Allegiant
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Travel Company, is headquartered. It quickly expanded and now flies nonstop to six destinations including Phoenix, Ariz., Los Angeles, Calif., and Palm Springs, Calif. With Allegiant’s success, the airport is attracting other no-frills airlines. Frontier Airlines, a lowcost carrier owned by Indianapolis, Ind.-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc., will start service to Denver on May 24.
ob Fix, the Port of Bellingham’s interim executive director, knows his agency’s economic hand reaches beyond city limits. “We’re called the Port of Bellingham, but we should really be called the Port of Whatcom County,” Fix said. In April, the port assumed a deeper role as an economic driver in the county: taking over management of its associate development organization, the primary authority for the region’s economic development and the county’s bridge between business and state government. Washington commerce officials first began utilizing ADOs to coordinate economic expansion and data collection in 1990. There
Canuck fliers surge
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Yarnish said while Whatcom County residents certainly have
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