The US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) issued their 404 permit in August 2007 allowing the construction to begin. Following this agreement the FAA issued a final environmental impact statement in May 2006 and a record of decision for the move in September 2006. The plans were approved by Bay County and the State of Florida in 2002 and specific plans for the area were approved in 2003. The West Bay Preservation Area includes 33 miles of untouched shoreline and 44 miles of creeks and tributaries. “Panama City-Bay County International is expecting to host 600,000 passengers a year by 2020.” Finally the safety zones for the 14/32 runway are not up to specification (a waiver being in place until 2015) and they need to be increased. The 14/32 runway at the airport has some problems in that it cannot be easily lengthened to accommodate full-sized jets because this would infringe upon protected land (St Andrews Bay (Goose Bayou) has a protected sea grass species) and also the runway is inside the hurricane belt, being flooded during certain times of the season since it is only 6ft above sea level (the other end of the runway is a dense residential area). Owned by the Panama City-Bay County Airport Authority the airport has been considering expansion plans since the 1980s. The 745-acre airport has two runways, the 14/32 at around 6,000ft and the 5/23 at 4,900ft and a 55,500ft² terminal building with six gates (two jet bridges). The Panama City-Bay County International Airport, now known as Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, is situated around 6km from Panama City in the state of Florida.

Panama city airport