Regional airport reports record passengers and outlines terminal expansion plans

The Fletcher Town Council on Monday received a 2023 annual report from a regional airport representative who said the facility set a passenger record and is investing in a larger terminal and air-traffic-control tower.

The airport representative, identified in the meeting as Lou bluee, told the council the airport served about 2.246 million passengers last year, an increase of roughly 22 percent, and expanded nonstop destinations to include Phoenix, Denver (United) and Orlando. He said seat capacity in the market rose about 23 percent while the airport’s load factor — the share of seats filled — dipped roughly one percentage point to about 82 percent.

The representative said capital spending for 2023 totaled about $56.8 million, including work on the terminal and an FAA control tower; the airport also added a roughly $10 million south shuttle parking lot. He said the airport’s 2023 economic impact to Western North Carolina was stated as approximately $2.275 billion and that proceeds from a Runway 5K last fall netted about $25,000 for local aviation charities and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina.

Council members asked detailed questions about carrier growth and the airport’s ability to add routes before the terminal expansion is complete. The representative said the terminal project will expand the facility from the roughly 113,000 square feet of the older terminal to about 275,000 square feet, adding gates (the project will grow capacity from seven gates to 12). He told the council the first phase — roughly seven gates and about 100,000 square feet — is expected to open next summer, with the remaining gates opening by mid-2027.

On other operational concerns, the airport representative told councilors the FAA control-tower construction is “a few months” behind schedule, estimating four to five months of delay but reporting that crews are making up time. He said parking remains constrained during construction; the airport recently added 600 spaces in a south lot and is coordinating additional parking through a nearby development and planning a second parking garage in the coming years. On staffing and gate availability during construction, he said airlines have sometimes needed to hold aircraft on taxiways because personnel or an open gate were not available, and the airport is tracking those occurrences with carriers.

“Our goal is to build the terminal to be able to accommodate 4 million passengers,” Lou bluee said. “We just surpassed 2.2 million this year, so we have a few years before we reach that level.”

The representative also described nonprofit and community programs run by the airport, including a comfort-dog program, music for passengers, and charitable contributions to local organizations.

The council did not take formal action on the report; the presentation concluded and councilors thanked the airport representatives for attending and offered to schedule a construction tour.

What's next: the airport will continue phased construction, with the council invited for a site visit; no additional council action was recorded at the meeting.