The Daily Times

How does McGhee Tyson International Airport sound?

The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority’s Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to authorize an International Gate Study to explore the feasibility of the airport establishing a customs facility to permit direct flights outside the U.S.

The $122,000 study will determine the economic rationale for accommodating international flights on a seasonal basis.

The gate would allow charter flights to the Caribbean and other tourist destinations. The top three foreign destinations of passengers departing McGhee Tyson are Cancun, Mexico; Toronto, Canada; and London, England.

The gate would bring visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park directly from Europe or other overseas locations and also accommodate international flights diverted to McGhee Tyson.

“We are always looking for ways to improve the customer experience by offering passengers access to destinations they want to visit and having an international operation at our facility would open up a world of possibilities,” said Howard Vogel, chairman of the MKAA Board of Commissioners.

The MKAA board authorized a payment of up to $122,000 to the LPA Group Inc. to conduct the study that would be expected to be completed in 60 to 120 days.

Follow the money

This is not the first time the board has discussed the possibility of bringing international air service to McGhee Tyson, said Jim Evans, vice president of marketing and air service development.

But the 2008 recession put an end to those considerations. Money was the barrier then, and could be again.

“When we found out it was going to be very expensive, everything came to a halt. Now we’re going back to revisit that topic and try to get our hands on: What does real expensive mean?” Evans said.

McGhee Tyson already has a customs office on airport property, but not one suitable for airline passenger flights. TAC Air serves international corporate jets with one or two customs employees who also deal with trains and trucks and warehouses.

Serving a commercial airliner with 200 passengers requires a very technical customs facility and staff — and approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Evans said.

The study will evaluate customs requirements along with U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulations. The airport already has the runway capacity to handle trans-Atlantic flights.

The reasons why

There are a couple of primary prompts for reconsidering an international gate.

One, airlines and charter services regularly inquire about bringing international flights to McGhee Tyson, only to be repeatedly turned down.

“We don’t like to say no to airlines,” Evans said.

Two, while regulations require full-time customs officials, some airports not located in major cities appear to be operating with part-time officials. How does that happen?

Hence, the study: “How can we bring something online at the lowest possible cost. That’s just something that’s unknown right now.”

Evans cited another study done for the MKAA that identified the market potential of low-fare airlines establishing fights to McGhee Tyson.

Dr. Steve Morse, director and economist with the University of Tennessee Tourism Institute, prepared data that indicates East Tennessee stacks up well compared to other regional tourism destinations such as the South Carolina coast.

“The tourism numbers that Dr. Morse put up shows that we’ve got a very robust infrastructure for tourism in the area. If East Tennessee is popular for a family from Ohio, would it be popular for a family from England?” Evans asked.

Even if the MKAA decides to go international, don’t expect anything to happen soon.

“This is a very preliminary step. It’s going to be a long-term project, in all likelihood, to go from here to opening a facility — if we decide to go that way,” Evans said.

1.7 million passengers

Also on Wednesday, MKAA President Bill Marrison announced that McGhee Tyson Airport served 1,774,252 passengers in 2011, making it the third-busiest year in the airport’s history.

The 2011 passenger traffic record indicates a 5 percent increase from 2010 numbers. American, Delta, United/Continental and US Airways reported increases in year-over-year passengers.

July 2011 passenger traffic reached almost 180,000 passengers, making it the busiest month in 2011. The December 2011 passenger count, at 144,043, was substantially higher than it was in December 2010.

You must be logged in to Facebook to comment. If you're not logged in to Facebook, a login window will open when you click "comment". Or you can log in now. You may need to refresh your page after logging in via that link.