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Prospects of new regional airport near Jonesboro on hold


Rural King

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I read in the Jonesboro Sun today that plans for a new regional airport near Jonesboro has been put on hold as Craighead Co. (Jonesboro) has decided to not sign on to a FAA funded feasability study that would be conducted to study the concept. Jonesboro's Airport Commission opposes the plan, as it is currently lengthening its runways and trying to market itself better in hopes of developing its own facility to serve more regional needs.

Here is the link to the Jonesboro Sun article to read more of the specifics:

http://www.jonesborosun.com/story.asp?ID=12558

Regional Airports are vital for luring investment, but Jonesboro seems to being doing fine in that regard with its current facility. So would it benefit from a new regional airport? I think thats an interesting issue to ponder.

Any opinions on this?

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I think the big question is the money, how much is it going to cost to put a regional airport in there. I think it would be great, but I think that the FAA may decide not to because of the amount to upgrade the airport to a regional airport.

It would be great for Jonesboro's already growing economy.

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I think the big question is the money, how much is it going to cost to put a regional airport in there. I think it would be great, but I think that the FAA may decide not to because of the amount to upgrade the airport to a regional airport.

It would be great for Jonesboro's already growing economy.

Memphis is only an hour away, you have to wonder if the cost of flights into a regional airport would garner any passengers with a medium-sized hub nearby that can offer lower rates. If Tulsa had a larger airport, XNA might never have taken off, either, even though it has a much larger market.

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Southwest should get some buses and paint them like their planes. Then they could start a shutttle between Jonesboro and the LR airport. They could hand out peanuts and sell a few beers along the way.

I'm not sure that would exactly work, let alone I'm not even sure if Southwest even does that. I could see a regional partnership between Little Rock and Jonesboro to provide a twice daily shuttle service between the 2 cities to the airport, but not for about 5-10 years.

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I'm not sure that would exactly work, let alone I'm not even sure if Southwest even does that. I could see a regional partnership between Little Rock and Jonesboro to provide a twice daily shuttle service between the 2 cities to the airport, but not for about 5-10 years.

LOL.... Skirby was kidding.....

it was pretty funny! :rofl:

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Does Jonesboro presently have any regularly scheduled commercial airline service?

Jackson TN which is only slightly further from Memphis than Jonesboro has a couple American Eagle flights a day to and from St. Louis.

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Does Jonesboro presently have any regularly scheduled commercial airline service?

Jackson TN which is only slightly further from Memphis than Jonesboro has a couple American Eagle flights a day to and from St. Louis.

Jonesboro has no commercial flights at all.

Cape Girardeau is about 100 or so miles to the north and they offer 3 flights a day to St. Louis on American Connection.

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Jonesboro has no commercial flights at all.

Cape Girardeau is about 100 or so miles to the north and they offer 3 flights a day to St. Louis on American Connection.

Once you drive to Cape Girardeau, you might as well keep driving up to St. Louis.

I do think that Jonesboro's population--well over 100,000 metro--is certainly deserving of flights to somewhere. It must be one of the larger areas in the country without air service.

I would think that a couple American Connection flights a day to DFW would do well.

Anyway, Memphis is an hour away, and you get all these cities nonstop--which has probably killed Jonesboro aviation--if you're willing to pay an arm and a leg. A few of those cities are smaller than Jonesboro in pop. Another big factor hurting Jonesboro is Little Rock with Southwest:

Atlanta

Birmingham

Baton Rouge

Nashville

Boston

Austin

Baltimore

Chattanooga

Cleveland

Charlotte

Columbus MS

Cincinnati

Dayton

Washington DC

Denver

Dallas

Des Moines

Gulfport

Gainesville FL

Greenville MS

Fort Smith AR

Fort Lauderdale

Newark

NYC

Evansville IN

Detroit

Little Rock

Lafayette LA

Lexington KY

Los Angeles

Jacksonville

Jackson MS

Las Vegas

Wichita

Indianapolis

Lincoln NE

Petit Jean Airport AR

Kansas City

Orlando

Chicago

Montgomery

Miami

Milwaukee

Quad Cities

Monroe LA

Mobile

Sheffield AL

Madison WI

Minneapolis

New Orleans

Oklahoma City

Omaha

Paducah KY

Pensacola

Philadelphia

Phoenix

Hattiesburg MS

Pittsburgh

Pensacola

Raleigh

Richmond

San Antonio

Louisville

Seattle

San Francisco

Springfield/Branson MO

Shreveport

St. Louis

Tallahassee

Tampa

Johnson City/Bristol/Kingsport TN

Tulsa

Tupelo

Knoxville

Ft. Walton Beach FL

Fayetteville AR

Toronto Canada

Vancouver Canada

Cancun Mexico

Montego Bay Jamaica

Amsterdam Netherlands

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Once you drive to Cape Girardeau, you might as well keep driving up to St. Louis.

I do think that Jonesboro's population--well over 100,000 metro--is certainly deserving of flights to somewhere. It must be one of the larger areas in the country without air service.

I would think that a couple American Connection flights a day to DFW would do well.

Anyway, Memphis is an hour away, and you get all these cities nonstop--which has probably killed Jonesboro aviation--if you're willing to pay an arm and a leg. A few of those cities are smaller than Jonesboro in pop:

Atlanta

Birmingham

Baton Rouge

Nashville

Boston

Austin

Baltimore

Chattanooga

Cleveland

Charlotte

Columbus MS

Cincinnati

Dayton

Washington DC

Denver

Dallas

Des Moines

Gulfport

Gainesville FL

Greenville MS

Fort Smith AR

Fort Lauderdale

Newark

NYC

Evansville IN

Detroit

Little Rock

Lafayette LA

Lexington KY

Los Angeles

Jacksonville

Jackson MS

Las Vegas

Wichita

Indianapolis

Lincoln NE

Petit Jean Airport AR

Kansas City

Orlando

Chicago

Montgomery

Miami

Milwaukee

Quad Cities

Monroe LA

Mobile

Sheffield AL

Madison WI

Minneapolis

New Orleans

Oklahoma City

Omaha

Paducah KY

Pensacola

Philadelphia

Phoenix

Hattiesburg MS

Pittsburgh

Pensacola

Raleigh

Richmond

San Antonio

Louisville

Seattle

San Francisco

Springfield/Branson MO

Shreveport

St. Louis

Tallahassee

Tampa

Johnson City/Bristol/Kingsport TN

Tulsa

Tupelo

Knoxville

Ft. Walton Beach FL

Fayetteville AR

Toronto Canada

Vancouver Canada

Cancun Mexico

Montego Bay Jamaica

Amsterdam Netherlands

Jonesboro is just to close to Memphis, so I don't think commercial flights will happen for 5 or so years, if that. The only thing I could see is flights on American Connection to STL, but I'm not even sure if that would work out. The flights would probably pretty expensive, and you have Little Rock and Memphis right there.

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Jonesboro is just to close to Memphis, so I don't think commercial flights will happen for 5 or so years, if that. The only thing I could see is flights on American Connection to STL, but I'm not even sure if that would work out. The flights would probably pretty expensive, and you have Little Rock and Memphis right there.

Flights out of Memphis are sky high.

What I really suspect--I edited my post to add it--is the fact that most of Jonesboro would probably just as soon drive to Little Rock to get Southwest's cheap fares.

I really don't know too many people in East Arkansas who use the Memphis airport. I have cousins in Forrest City who wouldn't dream of it. They all pile on the SWA flights at LR.

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Flights out of Memphis are sky high.

What I really suspect--I edited my post to add it--is the fact that most of Jonesboro would probably just as soon drive to Little Rock to get Southwest's cheap fares.

I really don't know too many people in East Arkansas who use the Memphis airport. I have cousins in Forrest City who wouldn't dream of it. They all pile on the SWA flights at LR.

That's true. Little Rock has a shuttle bus that goes from Memphis to Little Rock's Airport because of Southwest.

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Jonesboro has no commercial flights at all.

Cape Girardeau is about 100 or so miles to the north and they offer 3 flights a day to St. Louis on American Connection.

Actually, Jonesboro has two daily flights to DFW via Mesa Airlines. They've had commercial service for over a decade.

The main reason J-town is opposing this idea is that the proposed site for the regional airport is in Walnut Ridge at the old airforce base. It is the largest aviation facility (in acres) in AR.

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Actually, Jonesboro has two daily flights to DFW via Mesa Airlines. They've had commercial service for over a decade.

The main reason J-town is opposing this idea is that the proposed site for the regional airport is in Walnut Ridge at the old airforce base. It is the largest aviation facility (in acres) in AR.

How about that, you learn something new everyday.

I see now that it makes a stop in El Dorado, then goes to Dallas. It's on Beech 1900 propeller aircraft. 2 daily flights also.

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