Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) in Benton County saw its second year-over-year decrease in enplanements, or passengers flying out, after two consecutive record-high months this year. Still, airport officials expect enplanements to rise by about 3% to a record 1.3 million in 2026.
Enplanements declined by 0.3% to 108,255 in August from 108,554 in the same month last year. Between January and August, enplanements increased by 4.4% to 867,927 from 831,082 in the same period last year. XNA’s record-high enplanements were 129,045 and 129,397 in June and July, respectively.
On Tuesday (Sept. 22), Andrew Branch, chief operating officer at XNA, presented the data to the XNA Board of Directors. Branch filled in for CEO Aaron Burkes, who was ill.
“August is going to be the second month in five years where we did not exceed the month in the previous year,” Branch said. “It’s by 299. In January…we were down 170 enplanements.”
Branch said enplanements are projected to increase by about 3% this year from 2025.
“This month, after kind of a weak August, we’re up 7%…so far in September, so who knows what’s happened,” he said. “Fuel prices are up, and it should be pushing it the other way. It’s not… We like being positive every month… We’ve had a lot of positive, but last month was a little bit soft. This month’s looking stronger.”
Among U.S. commercial airports, Branch said XNA ranked No. 96 in enplanements in 2025. He said it’s the first time XNA accounted for more than half of the state’s enplanements. “So that’s a big deal,” said Branch, noting that the ranking is based on revenue enplanements, which exclude airline employees, who don’t pay to fly.
Before-and-after pictures of the terminal at Northwest Arkansas National Airport following a $41.6 million terminal renovation project. All passenger-facing improvements are now open. (image courtesy Keith Branch of Branch Photography)
By comparison, Clinton National Airport in Little Rock ranked No. 102, accounting for 45.7% of the state’s enplanements, and Fort Smith Regional Airport ranked No. 270, accounting for 2.4% of the state’s enplanements.
XNA has 28 nonstop destinations, or nonstop flights to 28 U.S. airports, provided by six airlines. United Airlines will begin daily nonstop service between XNA and Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday (Sept. 24), as XNA’s 28th nonstop destination. Branch said the flight is timed for travel to New Delhi, allowing passengers to reach India’s capital in one stop. United’s Newark hub offers nonstop service to more than 40 destinations across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India.
“We thought this was going to be more of a defensive year, so we’re kind of shocked that we have seen a little bit of an increase at the routes,” Branch said. “But I think it’s also indicative of the fact that they’re losing money in a lot of markets, and traffic’s not strong nationwide. And fuel prices are up. It’s just a really bad market for airlines right now.”
He said U.S. airlines can’t charge enough to cover their costs because people won’t pay it, and he expects to see “substantial losses, especially fuel prices like they are.” U.S. airfares increased by 23.4% in August from the same month in 2025, but airline costs are up between 30% and 40%. Branch said he hopes Arkansas legislators will consider, in the next session, allowing Arkansas airports to provide incentives to airlines, as other states do, such as Oklahoma and Ohio.
“Airports cannot participate directly in minimum revenue guarantees or any kind of financial incentives beyond the kind of standardized air carrier incentive program that we have that all other airports are able to offer also,” he said. “We are disadvantaged somewhat as a state when, say, Oklahoma has a statewide fund that they use to incentivize airlines to fly to new markets. There’s other states like Ohio that have a huge program for this. And so we don’t. And so the only way that an airline can have service incentivized here is for private industry to do it. And they’ve done it in the past, and we’re real thankful. But that’s a lot to ask a private individual to put in their own money. So hopefully Arkansas will move that direction in the next session.”
Ashton Collier, chief financial officer at XNA, provided an update on the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act financing process and the related bond issue for the $78.78 million project to expand the west side of the terminal by 111,000 square feet.
Collier said funding for the federal loan program is limited because Congress did not approve a budget, only a continuing resolution. As a result, the Build America Bureau has only about $10 million to $15 million until Dec. 11 to fund rural projects. XNA is seeking a $41.7 million loan. It plans to wait until the budget is approved and is meeting with federal leaders about its options. XNA also planned to use the loan program for its planned $74.14 million parking garage, which would include a mix of public and rental car spaces.
In August, XNA Board of Directors selected CDI Contractors to complete the Western Concourse project. CDI is a subsidiary of Little Rock-based retailer Dillard’s Inc. Demolition work for the project is expected to start in November.
Brett Meek, chief infrastructure officer at XNA, updated the board on several airport construction projects, including the $41.6 million terminal renovation project and Onyx Coffee Lab’s planned cafe in the terminal.
“We really continue to get a ton of positive feedback about the improvements from the terminal modernization project,” Meek said. “And one of the things that’s critical about this project that I think laypeople who are not super keyed into the long-term vision for the airport might not know about this project is that it enables so much…potential for future expansion that’s part of our strategic plan: the potential for alignment, connections to future parking garages over the top of the passenger pickup and drop-off area, the potential to further expand west our baggage claim area, and to move forward in the future with our consolidated outbound baggage handling area. This has just been a very important project for setting the stage for what is going to be the future on the front side of the terminal.”
Nabholz is the project’s general contractor and continues to complete remaining punch-list and quality-control work.
“The terminal modernization project is functionally complete, and all passenger-facing improvements are open,” said Olivia Tyler, business development and public affairs manager at XNA.
Tyler said design work for the new parking garage is expected to start this fall and will roughly mirror the existing parking garage. It’s expected to be four stories tall, with one portion dedicated to rental car operations and another to public parking. It’s estimated to have 800 public parking spaces.
The Onyx café will be on the west side of the terminal lobby. Construction is being planned to align with when Onyx receives imported materials, so it doesn’t create a hazard, Meek said. Onyx expects to receive casework imported from Norway in February.
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