Graham urges MB airport advances

Impressed by recent growth in air traffic at Myrtle Beach International Airport, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Monday he will push to bring about changes that should enhance the airport's marketability and make it easier to process foreign travelers.

Graham will start by petitioning the Transportation Security Administration director in Washington to allow Myrtle Beach to have its own TSA director instead of sharing a director with Charleston International Airport.

The TSA, which oversees security at the nation's airports, currently has a deputy director in Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach International Airport director Bob Kemp said Myrtle Beach International is the only airport of its size in the state that is paired with another airport under the TSA.

"It's very unusual. Right now, a lot of the administrative functions for the TSA personnel have to be divided between the two cities," Kemp said. "We would like to gain parity with other airports our size in the country."

Graham also wants the airport to begin the application process for becoming a designated port-of-entry, a distinction that would require the federal government to pay for customs handling.

"Myrtle Beach doesn't have the volume of international travel necessary for the designation at this point in time, but in the foreseeable future that will occur," Graham said. "We need to be ready to make an application to the customs officials to designate Myrtle Beach as a port-of-entry, which would tremendously enhance the economic opportunities of the region."

Graham said he was impressed with January's passenger traffic at the airport, which showed a 27 percent increase in boarding passengers while traffic at many of the nation's airports is down.

The senator met in Charleston with Myrtle Beach airport officials, Mayor Mark McBride, representatives of Hooters Air, and TSA and customs officials. The group discussed plans for a new airport terminal as well as ways to upgrade the existing facility in the interim.

"The purpose of this meeting was to have a forward view, rather than play catch-up," Graham said.

To qualify as a port-of-entry, Myrtle Beach International Airport needs at least 15,000 international passengers annually. It is expected to handle about 1,000 international passengers per month this year, with Hooters Air flights to the Bahamas and charter service scheduled from Toronto on Vacation Express. Kemp said the airport reimburses the Federal government for all costs involving customs.

"That's over $150,000 a year," Kemp said. "That's why it's important we become a port-of-entry, so the Federal government is responsible for providing that service to us, like it does in Charleston and Greenville."

Mark Peterson, president of Hooters Air, said the airline plans to expand into leisure markets outside the country, such as Mexico and the Caribbean, and is looking for a hub where it can operate multiple international flights.

"We quickly realized the international terminal out here is capable but has some limitations," Peterson said. "Essentially, you can do only one flight at a time; you can't do multiple flights."

McBride said Myrtle Beach needs to work at helping Hooters and other airlines in Myrtle Beach gain success because of the benefits those airlines bring to the community.

"Our hometown airline wants to bring a hub here, and we have to figure out anything we can do to get that hub in Myrtle Beach and not in Orlando," McBride said.

The mayor also said a port-of-entry status at Myrtle Beach International Airport would bring Myrtle Beach one step closer to supporting an international trade center here, and it would bring recognition.

"We need to get the facilities built to handle this kind of load. We have to be aggressive, and we have to go after it," McBride said. "It would give us recognition speaking to our growth."

Graham said he is supportive of an international trade center in Myrtle Beach.

"We've got to make sure, as we try to change Myrtle Beach and diversify the economy, that the airport can play a crucial role in that," he said.

McBride suggested that the city could reinvest some of its share of the Airport Trust Fund in order to upgrade the current terminal, which the city could later use as a convention hall or some other municipal building.

Graham said there are opportunities to upgrade the airport so that it can accept more international travel.

"Anything we can do while we're planning the new facility to increase traffic now helps us down the road," Graham said. "I want to get the highest and best use of this new facility coming on board."