OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Get ready for massive changes at Eppley Airfield. The Terminal Modernization Program is back in motion.
The Omaha Airport Authority says a $600 million makeover of the airport's main terminal will begin next year.
Plans include nearly doubling the building's current size, adding new gates, and consolidating the two concourses and checkpoints into one.
"We know the airport is an important part of this community for both the businesses and the general population with their leisure travel habits,” OAA Chief Development and Information Officer Steve McCoy said. “So, we feel it's a really exciting time for this community to see a new terminal developed and really meet the modern travel expectations, and to position Omaha and the airport for years to come."
The project will also move ticket counters to the second floor and add more concessions past the checkpoint.
They will have the final designs done by 2023, with full construction starting in 2024. The OAA says construction will take roughly four years and could be completed near the end of 2027.
From 2014 to 2019, Eppley Airfield saw consistent growth each year in passenger activity.
COVID threw a wrench in those numbers but now it’s back to about 85 percent of the passenger activity it seen in 2019.
With those numbers returning closer to normal, the planning that began just before the pandemic hit to revamp the airport resumed.
It will be the first major change to the terminal since the mid-1980s.
"Since that time there's been a number of changes to the travel experience. So, with this program we are going to be expanding and modernizing this facility,” McCoy said. “We will go from 20 to probably 22 gates, but with the ability to scale and expand beyond that well into the future."
The airport's current modernization projects are nearing conclusion.
The new terminal entrance will be finished later this summer, and the south garage will be completed by the end of the year.
You can check out the progress on those two projects by clicking here.
