History
1957: The Okaloosa County Air Terminal opened on Eglin Air Force Base in building 89 with 3 personnel (Airport Manager, Security and Admin Support. Southern Airways was the only air carrier. Passengers would enter the base through the East Gate adjacent to Valparaiso, thus the airport code of VPS was born.
1968: Southern Airways began flying four DC-9 aircraft daily out of VPS. Air New Orleans began operations with service to New Orleans.
The newly constructed James E. Plew Terminal Building of the Okaloosa Air Terminal, located on State Road 85, opened its doors in mid-February 1975, with a dedication ceremony held on Saturday, 22 February. Congressman Bob Sikes and Southern Airways President Frank Hulse were some of the guest speakers. The 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m2) facility was constructed at a cost of $1.7 million. Financing for the entire facility was through federal, state, and local money. Federal grants totaled $472,000, state $80,000, Okaloosa County bond sale $1.1 million, and Southern Airways $190,000. First year enplaned passengers totaled 97,000 with Southern Airways as the sole airline with 12 departing flights daily.
November 2004: The current Northwest Florida Regional Airport opened its doors following a major expansion program including additional public parking and aircraft parking apron, a second parallel taxiway, landscaping and a new 110,000 sq ft (10,000 m2) passenger terminal.
January 2008: Broke ground on the Consolidated Rental Car Service Facility located on 22 acres (89,000 m2) east of the airport. This facility will have offices for all 5 rental car companies as well as rental car service facilities with hydraulic lifts, automated car washes, gas pumps and vacuum islands and a consolidated fuel farm for both aviation and unleaded gasoline. A cargo facility and new offices for airport maintenance will also be built to the east of the terminal and are included in the project.
May 2009: Opened Consolidated Rental Car Service Facility on new 22-acre (89,000 m2) leasehold just east of the main terminal. This $14M project came in on time and under budget and was funded entirely with rental car user fees.
Read more about this topic: Northwest Florida Regional Airport
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