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Con­tact: Katie Spill­man, PR Counsel 

North­west Flori­da Beach­es Inter­na­tion­al Airport 

Email: katies@​themooreagency.​com

FOR IMME­DI­ATE RELEASE 

NORTH­WEST FLORI­DA BEACH­ES INTER­NA­TION­AL AIR­PORT CEL­E­BRATES 15 YEARS

PANA­MA CITY, Fla. (May 19, 2025) — This week, North­west Flori­da Beach­es Inter­na­tion­al Air­port (ECP) proud­ly marks its 15th anniver­sary, cel­e­brat­ing a decade and a half of excep­tion­al ser­vice, growth, and eco­nom­ic impact in the Region. Since open­ing on May 23, 2010, ECP has been a cor­ner­stone of progress and pros­per­i­ty for North­west Florida. 

A Mile­stone of Ser­vice and Growth

Over the past 15 years, ECP has con­sis­tent­ly evolved to meet the grow­ing demands of the Region. Last year, the Air­port wel­comed near­ly 1.9 mil­lion pas­sen­gers, a remark­able 501% increase from its first year. This growth is a tes­ta­ment to ECP’s unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to pro­vid­ing excep­tion­al ser­vice and enhanc­ing the trav­el expe­ri­ence for its passengers. 

Expan­sion and Innovation

ECP has under­gone exten­sive expan­sion projects, includ­ing the addi­tion­al air­craft Gates, over 500 new park­ing spaces, and the com­ple­tion of the Ter­mi­nal Build­out, which pro­vides much need­ed hol­d­room space for pas­sen­gers dur­ing peak trav­el sea­sons. In 2024, a larg­er bag­gage han­dling area was com­plet­ed to ensure a more effi­cient expe­ri­ence for travelers. 

The Air­port has also intro­duced sev­er­al new non­stop routes to pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tions, includ­ing sea­son­al non­stop ser­vice this year on Delta Air Lines to New York City and Austin, encour­ag­ing tourism to North­west Flori­da and offer­ing con­ve­nient trav­el options for locals. 

Eco­nom­ic Impact and Partnerships

ECP has solid­i­fied its role as a pow­er­ful eco­nom­ic gen­er­a­tor for North­west Flori­da. In part­ner­ship with Region­al orga­ni­za­tions such as the Bay Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment Alliance (Bay EDA) and Florida’s Great North­west (FGNW), ECP has made sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to the Region’s grow­ing aero­space and avi­a­tion sectors. 

In Decem­ber, ECP final­ized a part­ner­ship with IAG Aero Group to devel­op a Main­te­nance Repair and Over­haul facil­i­ty, bring­ing in $107 mil­lion in cap­i­tal invest­ment and cre­at­ing 500 new avi­a­tion jobs. Addi­tion­al­ly, ECP has part­nered with FSU InSPIRE to strength­en the aero­dy­nam­ics and advanced man­u­fac­tur­ing work through research, inno­va­tion, and education. 

Look­ing Ahead

As ECP cel­e­brates this sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone, the Air­port remains ded­i­cat­ed to pro­vid­ing excel­lent pas­sen­ger expe­ri­ences, boost­ing eco­nom­ic growth, and sus­tain­ing its momen­tum. The con­tri­bu­tions of ECP’s ded­i­cat­ed lead­ers, staff, and region­al part­ners have been instru­men­tal in guid­ing the Air­port to fur­ther suc­cess in the next 15 years. 

Quote from Mark Sheldon

Mark Shel­don, Chair of the Air­port Board of Direc­tors, expressed his excite­ment for the future, stat­ing, ​“ECP has been a vital part of our Region for the past 15 years, dri­ving eco­nom­ic growth and pro­vid­ing con­ve­nient trav­el options for our res­i­dents. I am hon­ored to play a role in guid­ing the Air­port through this ongo­ing era of out­stand­ing suc­cess. We owe our achieve­ments to the ded­i­ca­tion of our staff, the sup­port of our part­ners, and most impor­tant­ly, the trust and loy­al­ty of our pas­sen­gers. Thank you for choos­ing ECP and being a part of our jour­ney. We look for­ward to serv­ing you for many more years to come.”

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About North­west Flori­da Beach­es Inter­na­tion­al Air­port

North­west Flori­da Beach­es Inter­na­tion­al Air­port (ECP) is locat­ed less than 30 min­utes from Pana­ma City Beach, Pana­ma City and the beach­es of South Wal­ton. Today, with ser­vice from Amer­i­can Air­lines, Delta Air Lines, South­west Air­lines, and Unit­ed Air­lines, ECP pro­vides dai­ly flights to world­wide des­ti­na­tions, includ­ing dai­ly and sea­son­al non­stop flights to Atlanta (ATL), Austin (AUS), Bal­ti­more (BWI), Char­lotte (CLT), Chica­go (MDW/ORD), Dal­las (DAL/DFW), Den­ver (DEN), Hous­ton (HOU/IAH), Indi­anapo­lis (IND), Kansas City (MCI), Nashville (BNA), New York City (LGA), Philadel­phia (PHL), St. Louis (STL) and Wash­ing­ton DC (DCA). The first inter­na­tion­al air­port to be built in more than a decade, ECP pro­vides North­west Flori­da com­mu­ni­ties with first-class facil­i­ties and was strate­gi­cal­ly devel­oped for major eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties. ECP is the gate­way to vis­i­tors seek­ing North­west Florida’s famous beach­es.