Nashville International Airport welcomes new satellite concourse
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — As Nashville continues to grow, so does the city’s airport.
“This satellite was needed due to the growth in Nashville,” said Doug Kruelen.
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, Krulen – who serves as the CEO of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority – was among many officially welcoming Nashville International Airport’s (BNA) new satellite concourse.
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“We’ve been able to add eight new gates and seven new concessions concepts,” he said.
Right now, BNA can accommodate 35 million passengers a year, but Kreulen said it’s all that growth that has them working to expand.
“We’re averaging adding about 1.8 million people per year,” he said. “This year, we’re probably going to add over two million….We’re going to finish up June 30 at 24 million passengers.”
Over the last several years, the airport has been working on the BNA Vision, an expansion plan filled with various projects.
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“We’ve been able to open up all of the programs from 2017 to today with the satellite and the hotel pretty much right on schedule and right on budget,” said Kreulen. “That’s pretty hard to do, to run that tight of a schedule for seven years now running.”
If the airport wants to continue expanding it will need land, which means places like Monell’s, which sit on airport property, will have to move.
“All the land within the airport authority’s property of about 4,600 acres is primary and needed to support flight operations,” said Kruelen. “So as leases expire, we have to evaluate whether that’s in the best interest of the airport to renew a lease.”
Kreulen said by 2035, they hope to have a second terminal built and opened for passengers so that the airport can hopefully support up to 70 million passengers looking to fly into and out of Music City.
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“Those airlines are growing and they want more space in Nashville, so if we give the more gates, they’ll give us more destinations,” he said.
Kreulen said officials are currently trying to determine where that second terminal will be located on airport property. He said they are also looking at building a tram or rail system to connect those terminals in the future.
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