Anchorage International Airport Explores Public Private Partnership to Operate International Terminal
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) has issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) for a public private partnership to operate and manage the international terminal at the airport. By partnering with the private sector, the airport would be better positioned to capture future passenger growth and meet the expectations of today’s international passenger.
“The airport has an existing eight-gate international terminal that is ideally positioned to capture a portion of the forecast growth in air travel between Asia and North America,” said Jim Szczesniak ANC’s airport manager. “The terminal has a great history. In its peak the duty-free store generated over $100-million in annual sales and the terminal can handle 8 wide-body aircraft at a time.”
ANC currently serves four international passenger markets with nonstop service and is the closest west coast airport to Asia. ANC is also strategically located to provide connecting option between Asia and Latin America. Stopping at ANC only adds one mile to the great circle flight distance between Tokyo, Japan and San Paulo, Brazil and four miles to the great circle flight distance between Beijing, China and Santiago, Chile.
“Asian tourist’s top desire when visiting the U.S. is to experience nature. Alaska is home to eight national parks, glaciers, the northern lights, abundant wildlife, and the tallest mountain in North America. You won’t find a better place to experience nature than Alaska,” said Szczesniak. “In 2018, our Asian tourism market grew 13 percent and the Chinese tourism market grew 65 percent. Compared to other west coast gateways, ANC has significantly lower operational costs and is not congested. ANC’s international terminal presents a tremendous opportunity to capture future passenger growth. Governor Dunleavy’s message is that Alaska is open for business and the airport is looking at partnering with the private sector to drive growth at ANC.”
