HIGHFILL, Ark. (AP) – The airport serving northwest Arkansas and surrounding areas will be renamed the Northwest Arkansas National Airport, airport authority board members decided Wednesday.
The airport, previously known as Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, will retain its XNA airport code, officials said.
“The name is a perception thing. It is how people view us,” said Andrew Branch, chief business development officer at XNA. “When we talk to airlines, when we talk to UPS, FedEx in the future, how will we be perceived when they first see our name? Will they think we’re a smaller airport when we say we’re regional?”
According to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, passenger boardings are up by nearly 17% so far this year at the airport in Highfill.
The airport plans to update its signs and website with the new name but officials said the cost to do so will be minimal.
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