During Greg Kelly's 34 year career at the Savannah HHI Airport, he has been focused on making it one of the most successful airports in the country. Since stepping into the CEO role a decade ago, he has led impressive growth of the airport. One of his keys to success has been his commitment to bring leaders throughout the region to the table often.
Kelly has made a commitment to step up the airport's presence in Statesboro and has personally attended many key events on campus and in the community.
“We are your airport, and we want to be a business partner of yours, Statesboro and Bulloch Is an important market to us," said Greg Kelly. “Statesboro has always been very good for our business as a University town, a main population center, and growth potential in terms of population -- even before Hyundai. That combined with a strong business community. Leisure travel is important, but steady business travelers are important to us as well. We want to make sure they recognize us and the options we provide for their business travel.”
Exponential Growth
In 2012, the airport was selling approximately 20,263 seats a week. They had 11 non-stop destinations and six major markets. The airport had good connectivity, but high airfare impacted their growth.
Kelly and his team invested more in their air service efforts, and that paid off.
By 2021, they had doubled their seat capacity to 51,000 seats and had 31 non-stop destinations.
Currently, 60% to 70% of the airport traffic is leisure travel. Hilton Head visitors account for nearly half of the airport's traffic.
More recently, the airport grew to 36 non-stop destinations and has peaked at 1.8 million passengers, ranking the airport at 76th out of 500 commercial airports in the U.S.
The airport commission employs 250 and has a $4 billion economic impact for the Savannah region.
200 Million Expansion Underway
The airport growth plan for the 3,600 acre partial controlled by the Savannah Airport Commission is staggering. Below is a list of the expansion plans.
- Federal Inspection Service Facility completed in 2019
- Apron expansion completed in 2020
- Security Checkpoint and Concourse expansion underway now
- Addition of 4 jetways increasing gates to 19 plus 6 remote parking positions
- New Air Cargo Facility Complex
- Emergency Operations Center
- Reconstruct existing north apron phase 1
- Southeast quadrant redevelopment
- Addition of 1,000 paved parking spaces
Kelly knows they must improve the Exit 104 to the airport. They are working through the process of seeing major improvements to the intersection. Their goal is to see flyovers constructed to help improve traffic flow onto the airport property.
Demand is increasing
These growth plans have been years in the planning. Kelly points out that with the Savannah Convention Center doubling in size, Hyundai and other economic growth, and continued demand for cargo space, they have to stay focused on growth to keep up with this demand.
Kelly was generous with his time in walking through the airport operations, growth plans and strategies for the future with Jennifer Davis, CEO of the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber and me in his office at the Airport.
We can expect his focus and commitment to the region and Statesboro to only increase with the tremendous growth in our area that is to come.
