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Charlotte-Douglas airport will expand concourse
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Published: March 9, 2010
CHARLOTTE - Charlotte/Douglas International Airport plans to begin design work next month on a 120-foot extension of Concourse E, which will include two new gates for international flights.
When finished, the expansion will add as many as 12 gates and will likely complete the concourse, which has been built in phases and is used by US Airways for commuter jets. The airline recently told the airport it will add six new flights to two of its banks of departures, which prompted the expansion.
LS3P, which designed the other sections of the concourse, was awarded a $125,7000 design contract by Charlotte City Council last month for the extension.
US Airways, whose largest hub is in Charlotte, recently expanded international service out of Charlotte/Douglas. It has added a non-stop flight to Rio de Janeiro and Paris and will begin non-stop service to Rome, Italy, this spring. The airline would like to fly non-stop to Sao Paulo, Brazil, but that is contingent upon a complicated deal between US Airways and Delta for gates and landing rights in New York and Washington, D.C.
Aviation director Jerry Orr said he didn't have specific information on new international flights by the airline. But he said he's "reading the tea leaves" and believes more international service will be coming.
That prompted him to change the original design of Concourse E to add the two international gates, which will be built to accommodate Airbus A330 wide body planes.
Orr's long-term vision for the airport is to build a new international concourse on land now occupied by rental car companies. But that project is at least five years from construction, so Orr decided to add the two international gates at the end of Concourse E. Almost all of the airport's international flights use the 13-gate Concourse D.
Orr said Customs and Immigration has said it's OK with moving some staff to Concourse E for international flights.
If the airport needs more gates after Concourse E is expanded, Orr said, the airport would extend Concourse B. That concourse is also used by US Airways.
US Airways, headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., has in the last year shifted more planes from the west coast to Charlotte, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. It has made deep cuts at a former hub in Las Vegas and has also cut flights in Phoenix, its home city.
Charlotte/Douglas handled 34.5 million passengers in 2009, down slightly from 34.7 million passengers in 2008. Airlines worldwide reduced flights in response to the recession, and Charlotte's decline in passengers was smaller than many airports.
"I anticipate the hub continuing to grow," Orr said.
Last month, the airport opened its third parallel runway to help relieve congestion during peak times. The new runway will allow the airport to land three planes simultaneously -- making Charlotte/Douglas one of a handful of airports nationwide with that capacity.
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