Wilmington International Airport is at a new stage in its expansion. The latest phase is a $70 million project, and it’s the second phase of a larger $130 million project to update and improve the airport.
The new project primarily focuses on the exterior of the airport, including parking lots, roadway realignments, a parking garage, the terminal and the front canopy, according to officials who held a news conference in August. Plus, since the temporary curb is 200 feet away from the terminal, the airport is putting in a golf cart and wheelchair system to help with accessibility.
As part of its expansion efforts, the airport will also have a new cell phone lot that will allow travelers to park there for free.
“In the future, this is going to continue on and bring you up to the new terminal, but temporarily, starting (Aug. 19), this will be open, and this is where you will pick up and drop off your people,” airport director Jeff Bourk.
There will be four lanes for temporary drop-off, but as construction wraps up, drop-off will move back to the front of the terminal. And eventually, there will be four arrival and departure lanes and two commercial lanes for services such as ride shares and buses.
“That cell phone lot’s really nice because before, it was kind of far away, and then now people have just been pulling over alongside the road, so it’s so convenient to have it right there,” said Erin McNally, marketing, air service development and public relations manager for the airport.
Bourk siad the project is transformational and will remain untouched for another 30 years.
“This old terminal front was built in 1989 for 250,000 passengers,” he said. “Today, we’re handling 1.8, 1.9 million, and it was never designed to handle that.” He added that this project will have the capacity to handle those numbers, including the airport’s expected growth over the next 20 years.”
Bourk also revealed that there’s a future parking garage in future phases. He said that another garage could be built to add 1,200 spaces.
But the main reason for the overall project, Bourk added, was the curb front. In the process of expanding that curb, the airport also decided to add parking, a parking garage, a rental car facility and a new entrance to the terminal building.
He also said that they’re refacing and modernizing the terminal since it looks dated. He said that the airport will be upgrading and improving the terminal building’s look at the end of the project. In addition, a structured canopy will arrive in roughly two months to replace the scaffolding for the temporary curb front.
The primary motivator for the entire project, he explained, is the length of the curb front. With the airport’s current curb, he added, it’s blocked during peak times, and people can’t get in and out.
“We’re tripling the distance of our curb, and that’s going to give us not only the capacity to handle today’s traffic; it’s going to give us the capacity to handle traffic 2030,” Bourk said.
The airport has received $58 million in federal and state funding, and other funding for the project comes from operating reserve and operating income.
Meanwhile, the airport’s carriers continue to announce new destinations, with the most recent making the news because it’s ILM’s first international flight.
Avelo Airlines announced plans to begin flights to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, starting Dec. 24, officials said Aug. 14. The seasonal flight will operate Wednesdays and Saturdays through April, according to Avelo communications manager Courtney Goff.
The airline also announced plans to relaunch service to West Palm Beach, Florida, a flight that operated on a seasonal basis in 2023. The flights to West Palm Beach will begin Nov. 20, operating on Thursdays and Sundays.
Bourk said airport officials have spent about two years in conversation with Avelo and other airlines about bringing an international commercial flight to ILM.
“Avelo is the first one to take us up on that,” Bourk said, “and really they helped us work with Customs and Border (Protection) and their team to really make sure that we could do these flights and make them available to the public.”
