Greater Phoenix-area airports are gearing up for Super Bowl XLIX and Super Season 2015 in anticipation of a significant influx of activity for major events early next year. In addition to the Super Bowl game on February 1 and the 2015 Pro Bowl, both in the University of Phoenix stadium, the annual PGA Waste Management golf tournament and the Barrett-Jackson classic auto auction take place within days. The latter two occur just north of Scottsdale Municipal Airport (SDL), the 16th largest U.S. business aviation airport.
Super Bowl XXX, in 1996, was played at Sun Devil Stadium on the Arizona State campus, about five miles south of SDL. In 2015, with the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl in Glendale, on the west side of the Valley of the Sun, the Goodyear and Glendale Airports are nearest to the Super Bowl venue and expected to ease demand on SDL. Still, SDL (Booth 3406) expects heavy Super Bowl traffic and has instituted an operations plan to manage arrivals and departures.
SDL’s two full-service FBOs–Scottsdale AirCenter and Landmark Aviation–will manage the airport’s reservation system in coordination with the FAA. Recently acquired by the Signature Flight Support chain, Scottsdale AirCenter, on SDL’s west side, was ranked 28th overall in the 2014 Aviation International News user survey of U.S. and Canadian FBOs. It offers concierge services, passenger and pilot lounge areas, 145,000 sq ft of hangar space and 32,000 sq ft of shop and office space. Newly remodeled Landmark Aviation, at the airport’s northeast end, provides similar amenities, including snooze rooms, a media room, concierge services, catering and other services.
The reservation system will provide the FAA with registration numbers and names of operators. A set number of arrival and departure reservations have been equally distributed to each FBO. SDL reservations are required for departures from halftime of Super Bowl Sunday through Monday, February 2.
Other Phoenix-area airports sharing the Super Bowl traffic load are Phoenix Sky Harbor (Swift Aviation and Cutter Aviation), Deer Valley, on the Phoenix north side (Atlantic Aviation, Cutter Aviation); Mesa Falcon Field in the East Valley (Falcon Executive Aviation), Chandler Municipal to the south and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway further southeast.
