Flying high from Master$ week

Staff at Augusta Regional Airport are tallying up the numbers following the 2024 Masters Tournament. Across the board, most are higher than for the 2023 tournament.

Looking first at the number of flights, the airport traffic peaked on Friday with 645 flights. That compared to 544 in 2023, but still below the 684 the airport logged in 2022. In fact, although numbers were higher for most categories, 2024 is still overshadowed by the 2022 tournament visitors.

“All our performance indicators were behind 2022. But keep in mind that 2022 was a record year. That’s when we came out of COVID. And everybody had that pent-up demand. So, this year we were second in terms of performance,” explained Ken Hinkle, Director of Aviation Services.

Hinkle also broke down flight numbers by airline flights versus general aviation, the private planes that fill the runway at both Augusta Regional and Daniel Field.

“Again, 2022 was a huge year for us. And so, 2024 kind of lagged behind,” he said. “But what you’ll notice that is the airlines picked up more flights to our Masters, so that was an improvement. We were shy of 200 operations, but I believe that was because of the wind and the weather. I’m sure if we’d had a favorable Masters week, we’d probably eclipse what we did in 2022.”

All those flights required aviation fuel and that was one category where the 2024 tournament topped both of the two previous years.

“The jet fuel sales this year broke a record,” said Hinkle. “This is the highest we’ve ever collected. And that may be attributed to the airlines. But at any rate, we’re at 617,000 gallons for one week. So, I thought that was impressive.”

Another category that beat both of the two previous years is fees, specifically the landing and ramp fees. Hinkle broke it down showing fees collected against the airport’s expenses.

“This is only one week, but if you look at every year we improve, and this year was $3.9 million. Our expenses, they kind of slightly go up, but they average $800,000 for preparation and things of that nature, staffing and all that good stuff. But again, the revenues are kind of increasing,” he said.

Hinkle said there are some areas that can be improved including customer service, operational efficiency, and internal communications. He also wants to review ground transportation and drivers.

“They’re not used to the airport environment. And so, once they kind of get used to the airport environment, they are overwhelmed with the clientele that they’re dealing with,” he said. “So, once they get the degree of tips or whatnot, then it doesn’t become a customer service experience. It’s a kind of money-grab experience. So, we got to work on that, to try to find some individuals that simply just love aviation. Find someone that really is an aviation enthusiast, or just simply wants to be out here to provide support. That’s those individuals that we want to get it.”

Airport Executive Director, Herbert Judon, Jr. told commissioners one of his primary goals moving forward is the expanded security checkpoints. Those are due to be completed by 2026. He will also lobby the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide more screening equipment to facilitate a quicker, smoother flow for passengers departing Augusta.

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