Glendale airport prepares for influx of Super Bowl visitors

GLENDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - With Super Bowl LVII 17 days away in Glendale, airports in the Valley are preparing for an influx of visitors.

State Farm Stadium is just minutes away from the Glendale Municipal Airport and you can see it from the runway. The airport is home to private planes and it’s expecting about 200 aircraft for the weekend of the Super Bowl.

Airport Administrator Matt Smith says it’s typically home to smaller Cessna planes, but the big game will bring bigger corporate jets. While most can’t afford to fly private, Smith says the “mega event” will bring a big boost to the economy.

“So you figure that every person that lives in the city of Glendale is going to be positively affected by the Super Bowl,” Smith said. “Because the people are going to come in, they are going to eat in our restaurants, stay in our hotels, shop in our stores. And all of that sales tax is going to stay with the city and it’s going to provide more city services for the citizens of Glendale.”

The airport will be setting up a welcome lounge for visitors the Thursday before the Super Bowl. There will be members from the city’s economic development team. It’s an attempt to draw more business to the Valley.

The last time Arizona hosted the Super Bowl was in 2015. The host committee says that generated $719,000,000 in revenue and brought in more than 120,000 visitors. But experts think this year may bring more.

Over at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, there is a temporary structure up to prepare for the influx of visitors. This comes as the terminal is expanding and the airport set a record for commercial travel last year, welcoming nearly $1.9 million travelers. The airport says that’s a 6.5% increase from 2019.

Smith said there will be a temporary flight restriction in place at the airport for the hour before and after the Super Bowl.

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