Gulf Shores cuts ribbon on airport tower, sets sights passenger terminal
Tower operations set to begin on Nov. 17
Gulf Shores, AL – (OBA) – Gulf Shores Airport director Scott Fuller said in the past few days several people have tried to get him to reveal the new name for Jack Edwards Airport but he was noncommittal. Tower operations begin on Nov. 17.
“They asked if it was going to be regional, national or international,” Fuller said. “And I said ‘yes.’”
At a ribbon cutting for the airport’s new traffic control tower officials announced the facility will now be called Gulf Shores International Airport at Jack Edwards Field with the slogan “Fly in to Alabama’s Beaches.” A crowd of about 200 including dignitaries and officials from both Gulf Shores and Orange Beach gathered on Nov. 10 at 10:10 a.m. to talk about the tower, rebranding and future plans at the airport including a passenger terminal and commercial flights.
“The name is a major change for the airport,” Fuller said. “It’s just one aspect of all the many changes we’ve made, and that are taking place, as we prepare for an exciting, new future for the airport and the communities’ it serves.”
Fuller said after the event that there is an airline ready to start flying into Gulf Shores in late 2022 and he'd like there to be a terminal in place. But he said the date for opening the terminal could reach in to 2023.
Hopes are that the airport will get more people to town without their cars and relieve burgeoning traffic in both coastal cities that are also experiencing population booms as well as setting record tourism numbers.
“Our region’s continued growth will be highly dependent upon air travel,” Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said. “The changes and growth of Gulf Shores International Airport strongly assure to all communities along Alabama’s Gulf Coast that this outstanding asset continues to create positive economic impact for our destination, including creating jobs and diversifying opportunities for new and existing businesses.”
Orange Beach City Councilman Jerry Johnson who sits on the airport board had another perspective on the impact an airport can have on traffic.
“A mile of asphalt on an airport runway does more to reduce the congestion on highway 59 and the Beach Express, I-65 and I-10 than a mile on an interstate or a road,” Johnson said. “This is a huge event and a huge opportunity for our Gulf Coast. I couldn’t be more excited about it. This airport in getting a tower and soon in the next phase we’ll be getting a terminal which will change the way the Alabama Gulf Coast operates.”
“We’ve got everything in place to be great and this an opportunity for us to be great,” Craft said.
Former U.S. Rep Bradley Byrne was also on hand and gave thanks to retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, for his efforts in getting funding for the tower and now the attention for getting funding turns to the terminal.
“I’m looking forward to coming back to the terminal,” Byrne said. “I’m looking forward to clipping a ribbon for that, too. In some way we’ve got to make sure that our new senator, whoever that’s going to be, and get Congressman (Jerry) Carl to work on it, we can get that money together.”
Byrne also wants the terminal for personal reasons he told the gathering.
“I’m looking forward to coming down here and I’m going to fly in here,” Byrne said. “And, that’s going to be really cool.”
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