Jacksonville Aviation Authority CEO Mark VanLoh said March 24 that operations ran smoothly at Jacksonville International Airport during spring tourism events in Northeast Florida.
“Considering the Amelia car show, The Players tournament and spring break, we had calm weather, minimal delays and outstanding parking operations, providing incident-free travel for our customers,” VanLoh said at JAA’s regular board meeting.
He covered topics from peak travel performance at JIA to business development at Cecil Airport.
Nearly 13,000 travelers passed through JIA on March 17, the peak day, following the conclusion of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, he said.
Checkpoint wait times, averaging 10 minutes, showed an improvement from last year’s of about 17 minutes, including PreCheck passengers, VanLoh told the board.
He said sales of Players-related merchandise at the airport’s Paradies Shop hit record highs over last year’s $107,000, which itself broke the 2023 record of $100,000. A JAA spokesperson said the 2025 merchandise sales record is about $116,000.
“Most importantly, our temporary wayfinding signs assisted passengers flowing smoothly through all our construction,” he said.
That construction includes the development of Concourse B and shop renovations.
Concourse B is expected to open in December 2026, six months after a new parking garage is scheduled for completion. VanLoh said those projects are on time.
“I don’t have any pictures because they’re still drilling for pilings, which doesn’t make for very exciting pictures,” he said.
Despite the highs, VanLoh said passenger volume is hitting a “plateau,” citing “economic uncertainty.”
VanLoh told the board that activity is on the rise this year at Cecil Airport in West Jacksonville. It includes visits from search firms and developers looking for a Florida presence, as well as members of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Florida State College at Jacksonville (which has a campus nearby) and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which conducts rocket launch testing at the facility.
He said the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida recently signed agreements to conduct similar testing there.
He called activity and interest at Cecil “encouraging.”
The JAA board’s next meeting is scheduled for May 19. It was moved from May 26, which is Memorial Day.