Northwest Florida Regional Airport - Facilities and Aircraft

Facilities and Aircraft

Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Eglin AFB share two runways: 12/30 with a 12,005 x 300 ft (3,659 x 91 m) asphalt/concrete surface and 1/19 with a 10,012 x 300 ft (3,052 x 91 m) asphalt pavement. For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2006, the airport had 126,060 aircraft operations, an average of 345 per day: 71% military, 19% scheduled commercial, 8% general aviation and 2% air taxi.

The airport has a 110,000 ft² airport passenger terminal building with three second-level gates with passenger jet ways and three ground-level commuter gates with regional jet boarding bridges

The passenger terminal at VPS is a two-level, 107,000 square foot facility as was opened in November 2004. The old terminal building was demolished soon after. The terminal provides areas for ticketing and baggage claim and upper and lower courses with gates to board aircraft. The first level has Gates A1, A2, and A3. Located here also are waiting areas and concessions. The second-level concourse has Gates B1, B2, and B3, and also has a restaurant and concession areas. The terminal was designed so that future expansion would be possible. According to the Northwest Florida Regional Airport Master Plan Update, a project to extend the concourse 120 feet and add three additional gates is under consideration (2010). Access to the terminal is provided via a designated entrance off of State Road 85.There are then three option when entering the airport loop. There are parking facilities to the left, access to the terminal or loop straight ahead, or access to the rental car return to the right. The airport loop road has two pass-through lanes on the left and three arrival-departure lanes in front of the terminal. The loop road is a two-lane asphalt roadway approximately ¾ mile in length. Short-term and long-term parking facilities are also available. The parking facilities underwent a major improvement program in the early 2000s as part of the new terminal expansion program. These facilities were designed with the Transportation Security Administration's "300-foot rule" in mind, and satisfy the 300-foot distance between parked vehicles and the terminal building. This reduces the need to extra security personnel.

Okaloosa County owns and operates the airport terminal, which sits on 131 acres of Eglin AFB property that is lease from the U.S. Department of the Air Force. The property is leased until 2031 and limits aircraft operations at 80 per day. It is unique in that the county staffs the airport, yet it leases the property from the USAF. Okaloosa County Commission serves as a policy board and hires the airport staff.

Greg Donovan, A.A.E. is VPS's Airport Director. Greg worked as the Operations Manager at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin for 9 years prior to being appointed to this position in 2001. He has also worked for the Houston Airport System at Hobby Airport as an Airport Operations Aide (1992), a Management Intern at America West Airlines corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona (1991) and as a Management Assistant with the Federal Aviation Administration at Orlando International Airport (1989). He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1991 and holds a private pilot's license. Donovan served as President of the Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA) in 2001 and graduated from Leadership Pensacola in 2003. He currently chairs the Florida Airports Council (FAC) facilities committee and is an active member of the Continuing Florida Aviation Systems Planning Process (CFASPP) (Florida Airports Council Facilities & Information Technology Conference, 2006).