Assuming that the Wilmington International Airport Authority decides to approve the terminal capacity study recently presented to it, officials will need to determine how to pay for the recommended $64 million to $106 million in expansions and improvements, say airport officials.
The study, done by airport consulting firm Talbert & Bright and shown to the authority last week, projected the kinds of capacity the airport would need for 20 percent, 40 percent and 85 percent increases in departing passengers, Julie Wilsey, ILM’s deputy director, said Monday.
Funding could come from a variety of sources but would likely involve some revenue bonds, she said. Other sources include federal airport improvement grants as well as passenger facility charges, which currently are being applied to earlier capital improvements at the airport. When those projects are paid for, the passenger facility charge monies would be available for expansion, Wilsey added.
If the planning document is approved by the airport authority and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), funding sources and structure will need to be determined before the airport can move forward, she explained, but added that expansion work is likely several years off, when passenger counts rise.
“It’s really passenger driven rather than timeline driven,” Wilsey said of the plan, but added that currently, at peak times during peak days – holidays and mid-summer – the gates are at or near capacity, with no room to grow within the current building footprint.
The passenger growth projections, Wilsey said, are based on population estimates for the area.
“Demographic projections show a lot of growth, with people moving here,” she said. “The FAA also has a terminal area forecast, so we used their data as well, and our own historical data.”
“Our terminal was constructed in 1987 and 1988, opened in 1989,” she said. “Since then, the industry has changed a lot. Even back in 1999, you could walk to the gate area with a departing passenger. The facility was not designed to function with today’s challenges. If you’ve got a pre-2001 airport design, you don’t have room for all the [post-9/11 security] equipment. This [study] is our first cut at making our terminal a post-2001 design.”
The study outlines a three-phase expansion process, each phase aligned with the studied percentage increase levels in passengers. Plans call for a larger terminal that could accommodate a proposed ultimate total of 10 gates, as well as more food concessions, a larger lobby with more seating, more bathrooms and a bigger baggage claim area.
The study estimates a price tag for the first phase, preparing ILM for a 20 percent boost in departing passengers, of between $21.5 million and $40.1 million.
“As with any plan, the first 20 percent growth is the most expensive, because it involves a lot of construction for not that much growth,” Wilsey said. “You end up building the shell for the whole expansion, with little pieces to be added during the next two phases.”
Recommended for inclusion in the second or third phase is construction of two parking decks, one on either side of the terminal building, at a cost of about $20 million. Earlier feedback on terminal design, Wilsey said, delivered the very clear message: “Don’t build a parking deck in front of the terminal.”
The study, conducted over a 14-month period, cost $265,000, according to Wilsey. Last week’s meeting was informational only for the authority members and did not involve a vote to approve.
“It will go to the FAA in the next month or so," she said. "From our point of view, [this stage] is pretty much done, and it took 14 months off the [capital improvements] process.”
Wilsey said airport officials have no idea when work might begin on the airport expansion.
“We have been at the same level of enplanements [or boardings] for a while,” she said. “We need to look at the housing industry. We’re projecting things are going to pick up quickly, and then we watch the enplanements. We also have to consider how long it will take to design and build the first phase.”
