The FAA has released special air traffic procedures to handle the influx of traffic for the 2022 Masters Golf Tournament that is scheduled from April 7 to 10. NBAA said its Air Traffic Services group is anticipating a jump in operations for this year’s tournament in and out of the four primary airports surrounding Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. “The large crowds of years past are back,” NBAA said.
The association advised of preferred arrival routes and departure routes which will be in place for Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field (AGS), Aiken Municipal Airport (AIK), Daniel Field (DNL), and Thomson-McDuffie County Airport (HQU) throughout the duration of the event. Flights that do not use those routes may receive route amendments that could cause delays, NBAA warned.
NBAA further noted that specific traffic management initiatives could be implemented during peak demand times and these could encompass route amendments, miles-in-trail, metering, ground stops, and ground delay programs.
Advance notifications and reservation recommendations vary at each airport. While parking reservations were not required at any of the four for the past two Masters tournaments, operators are still advised to contact their FBO choice to ensure parking will be available. Operators further should contact the FBOs about potential ramp fees.
At Augusta Regional, reservations are recommended and can be made through the Augusta FlightBridge website. Runway 8/26 and associated taxiway will be closed to support aircraft parking. Aiken Municipal is requesting advanced reservation and indicated that Runway 01/19 may be closed for additional parking. Daniel Field may have different procedures from the past because of a non-operational control tower. Advance parking reservations are further recommended at Thomson-McDuffie County and can be made by contacting Spirit Aviation.