Here’s a peek inside the Charlotte airport’s $608 million lobby expansion project

Hannah Smoot
·4 min read

Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials showed off a $608-million construction zone on Tuesday, with workers nearly a quarter of the way through the airport’s terminal lobby expansion project.

Travelers at the airport will step into a new and improved terminal lobby for the first time next spring, airport Chief Operating Officer Jack Christine told reporters Tuesday.

The airport will debut underground walkways connecting the hourly deck to the terminal at the same time, he said.

The $608-million terminal lobby expansion project will add 175,000 square feet to the lobby for TSA security screenings, ticketing, baggage claim and offices.

Once the new lobby opens, renovations on the existing lobby will begin, including plans to convert the airport’s five security checkpoints into three checkpoints.

Checkpoint E has already been upgraded, and checkpoints A and B will be combined, as well as C and D.

The full terminal lobby project, launched in December 2019, is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

The $608-million terminal lobby expansion project will add 175,000 square feet to the lobby for TSA security screenings, ticketing, baggage claim and offices.
The $608-million terminal lobby expansion project will add 175,000 square feet to the lobby for TSA security screenings, ticketing, baggage claim and offices.

More milestones at the airport

The airport has announced a number of milestones on the terminal lobby project in recent months.

In June, the airport brought its iconic Queen Charlotte statue back to CLT and installed it in the lobby construction area. The statue won’t be unveiled until construction is complete.

In August, the airport shifted construction to the east end of the lobby, near Checkpoint E.

Last month and again in September, the airport announced changes to the entrance and exit of the airport.

In September, the airport said it would close Door 3 and open the center door on the ticketing level. Doors 1 and 5 remained open. And on the baggage claim level, Door 3 closed and the center door opened. Door 1 remained open.

In the future, the lobby project will include a pedestrian walkway connecting to the hourly parking lot, along with a canopy covering the walkway and roadway. Those projects will open later in the expansion.

The terminal lobby project is part of the airport’s Destination CLT, a $2.5-billion to $3.1-billion capital investment program.

The terminal lobby project is part of the airport’s Destination CLT, a $2.5-billion to $3.1-billion capital investment program.
The terminal lobby project is part of the airport’s Destination CLT, a $2.5-billion to $3.1-billion capital investment program.

Pandemic travel at CLT

Passenger numbers at the Charlotte airport took a deep dive in early 2020 when the coroanvirus pandemic first hit North Carolina. But crowds have returned to the airport in recent months.

In July — the most recent month of passenger data available — passengers boarding planes at the Charlotte airport surpassed 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic hit North Carolina early last year.

CLT airport ranked in the top five busiest airports in the world in number of flights for most of the year, according to flight statistics website Information Design.
CLT airport ranked in the top five busiest airports in the world in number of flights for most of the year, according to flight statistics website Information Design.

More than 2.2 million people boarded planes at CLT in July this year, compared to just under 2.2 million in 2019.

And the Charlotte airport has recovered quickly compared to other major airports. CLT ranked in the top five busiest airports in the world in number of flights for most of the year, according to flight statistics website Information Design.

Expanding to meet demand

The terminal lobby expansion will help the airport serve more customers, Christine said.

When the terminal opened in 1982, the airport served 2.5 million local passengers. In 2018, CLT saw 12.5 million local customers, according to the airport.

Construction is underway for the lobby expansion project at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Construction is underway for the lobby expansion project at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

“We were over capacity,” Christine said. “…There were days where the lobby would get full of people, literally people shoulder-to-shoulder.”

The airport saw a few days like that over the summer, even despite COVID-19, Christine said.

The airport has not yet fully recovered from COVID-19. But Christine hopes the airport will be back at 12.5 million local customers by 2024.

And the airport is building the terminal lobby expansion to accommodate even bigger increases in passenger numbers.

Airport staff began planning for the lobby expansion in 2010, he said. But before construction could start, the airport needed to build a new parking deck and a new roadway for drop-offs and pick-ups in front of the terminal lobby.

The old roadway ran through what is now the terminal lobby expansion.

“We weren’t just looking at what we need to do in 2025,” Christine said. “You’re actually looking at what do we need in 2035... We’ve built that footprint so that we can easily expand and match the demand.”