Mesa Gateway Airport reports record growth, major private development and multi‑million dollar infrastructure plans

Brian O'Neil, executive director of the Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, told the Queen Creek Town Council that passenger traffic recovered strongly in 2024 and that the airport is on track for further growth in 2025, while more than 1,000,000 square feet of private development and several large infrastructure projects are under way.

O'Neil said 2024 was the airport's second‑best year for passengers and that the authority is "hopeful and optimistic" it will surpass 2,000,000 passengers in 2025. He credited increased schedules from Allegiant and Sun Country and noted Allegiant began nonstop service to Colorado Springs on Feb. 12, 2025.

The airport's private development pipeline includes a mix of aeronautical and non‑aeronautical projects the authority described as material to the East Valley economy. O'Neil said Virgin Galactic is setting up a manufacturing presence with a roughly 15,000‑square‑foot manufacturing facility plus a roughly 50,000‑square‑foot hangar where a mothership will be housed and that the company is hiring and "tooling up" later this year to build early commercial vehicles. He said a consortium called Amplifly is in due diligence on an eight‑acre aeronautical redevelopment site and is planning a 25,000–50,000‑square‑foot hangar. Other projects O'Neil highlighted include Gateway Commerce Park 3 (about 100,000 square feet across two buildings), the 360‑acre Skybridge Arizona master development (roughly 650,000 square feet built to date), Gulfstream Aerospace's 225,000‑square‑foot West Coast service center, Synergy Climate Systems' U.S. headquarters and manufacturing campus (275,000 square feet of manufacturing and 25,000 square feet of office), and a five‑story SpringHill Suites hotel described in the presentation as a 25‑room property with retail and restaurant pads.

O'Neil gave employment estimates tied to the developments the authority is tracking: Gulfstream currently has about 350 jobs and plans to grow toward 700, Zenergy's Phase 1 is projected at about 700 jobs, and Virgin Galactic about 125 jobs. He said the airport currently supports roughly 3,000 jobs and that the projects now under way would add "over a thousand new jobs," taking the airport's total employment over 4,000.

On infrastructure, O'Neil described a two‑year, $45 million reconstruction of the inside runway (Runway 12/30) that will finish in phases: the south end closed in year one and the north end scheduled for reconstruction in year two, with the full project expected to complete in fall 2026. He said the rebuild used pulverized 1940s concrete for the base and will include a new 50‑foot width of concrete up to 16 inches deep on portions of the runway.

O'Neil also outlined a $30 million partnership with the Transportation Security Administration to replace older explosive‑detection screening equipment and add processing capacity. Under the plan he described, the TSA would provide about $20 million for new L‑3 screening machines (each capable of 800–1,000 bags per hour) and the airport would contribute about $10 million to build the facility to house the equipment; the authority received notice from the TSA that the project will begin in August 2025 rather than 2026.

He presented a conceptual long‑term plan developed in a Gateway Tomorrow planning charrette that envisions an eventual east‑side terminal buildout, structured parking with vertiport capacity on top, and a multi‑gate terminal. O'Neil characterized the plan as conceptual and said the authority estimates a roughly $1 billion cost for a Phase 1 buildout that would include about 14 gates and the core terminal infrastructure.

O'Neil also reminded the council that the federal Real ID implementation has a May 7 deadline for travelers; he advised residents who lack a Real ID‑compliant driver's license to obtain one or carry a passport for air travel after that date.

The presentation prompted questions from council members about total construction and permanent jobs, runway sequencing and funding. O'Neil said the airport uses long‑term leases and airport revenue bonds, federal Airport Improvement Program entitlements and discretionary grants, and local owner contributions as local matches to finance major projects, and that buildout timing is a rolling 10‑year horizon dependent on absorption rates and lease commitments.

If adopted in whole, the private development and airfield plans O'Neil described would extend the airport's role as an economic engine for the region by increasing passenger connectivity and creating aviation‑related employment and new industrial capacity.