Super Bowl Jet-Setters Face Gridlock

(Wall Street Journal) - The nation's wealthiest football fans are descending in droves on Indianapolis for Sunday's Super Bowl, setting off a scramble by airport officials in this modest Midwest hub to accommodate the influx of private jets.

About 1,100 private planes are expected to ferry in corporate chieftains and other bigwigs to see the New York Giants face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. That is one of the largest fleets of luxury planes in the Super Bowl's history, flying into one of the smallest cities to ever host the game.

Indianapolis, with a population of about 820,000, is the first city to host a Super Bowl with just one air-traffic control tower in a 50-mile (80-km) radius. The Federal Aviation Administration has set up five new departure routes along with three temporary control towers -- mobile units with glass-domed ceilings parked in the airfields -- at nearby airports.

Michael Medvescek, chief operating officer of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, said the plane squeeze has left no spot to park a private jet within 30 miles (48km) of Lucas Oil Stadium.

The result is that some VIPs will have to park their jets VFA -- very far away.

"We were not expecting this whatsoever," Brian Payne said. He manages the airport in French Lick, Ind., a town of 1,800 two hours' drive south of Indianapolis, most commonly associated with NBA legend Larry Bird.

At least seven private planes will land in French Lick this weekend, more arrivals than the airport typically handles in a week.

The FAA said this year's expected number of private planes is similar to the total for Dallas-Fort Worth, which hosted last year's Super Bowl, and is about 400 more than in 2010. But Indianapolis is hardly a frequent stop for the jet set. Forbes showed just four Indiana residents in its 2011 list of billionaires. Texas had 44.

Combined with additional commercial flights, the FAA expects an overall increase in the Indianapolis area of nearly 3,500 arrivals and departures for the festivities. That is about eight times the uptick in air traffic for a typical Indianapolis 500 car race.

Complicating the congestion on Sunday will be FAA rules that no planes can fly within 10 miles (16km) of the stadium between 4:30pm and one hour after the NFL champion is crowned. Four of the 16 airports handling private planes lie within the no-fly zone, including Indianapolis International.

Read more: Wall Street Journal