Frisco | February 2023

REGIONAL REPORT Proposed bond could add airport passenger service A bond proposition could cause activity at the McKinney National Airport to soar in 2023. McKinney City Council voted to add a $200 million bond proposition to the May election ballot at its Feb. 7 meeting. The single-item bond could fund an expansion project that would add a new terminal and commercial passenger service. The project would entail construct- ing a new terminal and parking lots as well as infrastructure improvements. “There’s tremendous economic impact and benet to the city and the region,” McKinney Mayor George Fuller said. “You’re talking thousands of jobs, and you’re talking probably a billion dollars in economic annual impact.” The project would cost $300.7 mil- lion in total, but the bond committee intends to ask McKinney voters for $200 million. The city anticipates between $60 million and $100 million in additional funding from federal sources to bridge the gap. The project, if approved by voters, could be opera- tional as soon as spring 2026. Adding commercial passenger service The proposed terminal would be 144,000 square feet and include four gates with room to grow to 16 gates and 2,000 parking spaces as well as include dining, retail and enhanced passenger amenities. The initial four-gate terminal could BY SHELBIE HAMILTON & MIRANDA JAIMES

TERMINAL TIMELINE McKinney National Airport has had commercial passenger service in its master plan since 2012. The updated airport master plan is approved and adopted with goals to add commercial passenger service. 2018

380

AIRPORT DR.

INDUSTRIAL BLVD.

The city of McKinney receives unsolicited

2019

A citizen bond committee convenes to review the plans and potential bond package. interest from airlines about adding commercial passenger service at the airport. SEPT. 2022

The potential bond package would fund a new terminal building at McKinney National Airport that would add commercial passenger services. (Rendering courtesy city of McKinney)

FLY WITH MCKINNEY McKinney National Airport (TKI) would target potential passengers to the north and east of McKinney. The travelers make up the airport’s primary target market because

Closer to TKI

The McKinney City Council placed the

DURANT

FEB. 7, 2023

bond package on the ballot.

DENISON

GAINESVILLE

SHERMAN

The bond package is considered by voters

MAY 6, 2023

they are at least 10 minutes closer to McKinney’s airport than they are to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) or Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL). Location identier codes TKI = McKinney National Airport DFW = Dallas Fort Worth International Airport DAL = Dallas Love Field Airport

on election day.

TKI

DENTON

MCKINNEY

All approvals from the Federal

380

GREENVILLE

DECATUR

LATE 2025

Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration are in place.

DFW

Equal travel time to TKI, DFW or DAL Closer to DFW or DAL

FORT WORTH

WEATHERFORD

DALLAS

The terminal could open.

DAL

SPRING 2026

35E

35W

WAXAHACHIE

The airport could break even and become self-

2048

sustaining, according to projections from WJ Advisors, a consulting rm hired by the city.

CORSICANA

SOURCE: CITY OF MCKINNEYCOMMUNITY IMPACT

expand, including using property tax and sales tax dollars, generating reve- nue from fuel sales, and leasing hangar and oce spaces. Supporting regional transportation If approved, the McKinney National Airport would be the third commercial passenger airport in the North Texas area, joining Dallas Fort Worth Inter- national Airport and Dallas Love Field

Airport. Edward Shelswell-White, the chief customer ocer of SkyEnergy, an avi- ation consulting rm, said Dallas Love Field Airport is federally limited to 20 gates, which it has. “We do have interest now from airlines,” he said. “We do have the capacity and the land to build it; it’s just the next step in the evolution of McKinney.”

see between four and 20 commercial ight departures per day, according to initial demand forecasts. If approved, the project could begin the three years of construction needed in 2023. Commercial service has been in the airport’s master plan since 2012, Assis- tant City Manager Barry Shelton said. After voters turned down a $50 million bond proposition to fund the airport in 2015, city ocials found other ways to

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FRISCO EDITION • FEBRUARY 2023