Sustained growth in services and a new customs facility for commercial flights are on Bellingham International Airport’s docket under new Director of Aviation Kip Turner.
Turner, an airport management veteran with 30 years of experience, comes to Bellingham with an eye for growth and a desire to maintain BLI as a primary economic engine for the city.
While only three weeks into the job, Turner had already received some good news about airport growth when he spoke to Cascadia Daily News: Southwest Airlines is upping its service from Bellingham to Denver in summer 2024 from one flight to two flights on Saturday, plus an added Sunday flight.
“We’re hoping that’s just another step towards what we ultimately hope to have on that Denver service,” he said. “Because we really feel Denver is a good market for us.”
Turner wasn’t prepared to answer questions on where else he hopes to expand service to, as he said he had more market research to do. But previous Director of Aviation Sunil Harman, who recently retired, was eyeing flights to Honolulu; Portland, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Dallas and Chicago.
Getting into a new market isn’t easy, Turner said. An airport needs to first have the data that supports it will be able to fill the planes and make sure the proposed market is in line with an airline’s strategy. “It has to make the carrier money,” Turner added.
He described it as a “seed planting process.”
“It takes a lot of relationship, trust, and building and case study, and all those things factored together for some type of success going forward,” he said.
Turner is committed to sustained growth, he said in an interview. Along with trying to access new markets on the commercial side, Turner is passionate about general aviation.
“When those private jets and those private planes come in, they’re bringing tourism dollars, they’re bringing second home dollars, they’re bringing in all the things that we want as a community from an economic engine standpoint,” he said. “A good airport should serve as one of your private economic engines. This airport does that today and we want it to continue to stay at that pace.”
While the airport already has customs and border patrol processing for mostly general aircraft, Turner said the airport is planning a facility for commercial passenger processing that will ideally be in place within the next five years.
“We definitely see a huge demand for international opportunities here,” he said, adding that BLI is looking at Mexico as a potential destination.
Most recently, Turner worked for Frontier Airlines. He also worked as airport director for Ventura County, California airports, and managed the Grand Junction Regional Airport and Durango-La Plata County Airport in Colorado.
Turner said he wants to spend time talking to community members about what they want to see at the airport.
“That’s part of the job I enjoy the most, is being involved with the community, trying to understand what the community’s needs are,” he said.
The airport currently offers nonstop commercial flights to Seattle, Las Vegas, Oakland, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Palm Springs, California.
Turner said he’s happy to be in Bellingham.
“I’m looking to be here a long time and plant roots here and be a part of the community.”
