McGhee Tyson Airport working to develop with journey growth in Alcoa, TN

ALCOA, Tenn. (WATE) — Knoxville’s airport sits in Alcoa. Although it’s categorized as a small airport, it’s rising by leaps and bounds. A $700 million funding is occurring now to take the airport to the subsequent degree and meet demand.

Travelers at McGhee Tyson Airport are noticing the large modifications.

“It has changed tremendously, and the growth is wonderful, and the new airlines coming in is a great thing,” stated passenger Francine Floody. We spoke together with her earlier than her departure abroad. 

The upgrades and enlargement are part of an in depth plan to assist the airport meet demand higher.

“Last year, we saw a new record of 3.3 million total passengers. That’s outbound passengers and inbound passengers in total. And so far this year, we’re on pace to grow another 13% on top of that 3.3 million last year,” stated Patrick Wilson is the president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.

As these numbers swell, TYS’s infrastructure has to enhance. 

“We’ve seen a lot of corporate investment in our region,” stated Wilson. “A lot of government investment and travel with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority, University of Tennessee, all of those agencies are doing a lot of activity. Tourism continues to set record numbers in East Tennessee. And then we’ve seen a lot of in-migration of people coming to our area to live. So, the total market is growing, and that means activity at the airport is growing.”

Wilson says the authority is trying to get forward of the projected want.

“We have a 10-year growth plan that we call Flight Plan that’ll expand those facilities and help us meet that regional passenger demand into the next 10 years and beyond,” he stated.

When you pull as much as McGhee Tyson Airport you may see the work that’s underway.

“Very noticeable when you come onto the airport, our new parking garage and reconfiguration of our terminal roadway system. So, we have such a high volume that our terminal roads can get congested. We’re going to be making some of those two-way roads to make it a little better flow. Reduce some of the volume in front of the terminal. And then an entirely new structure, a new parking garage that will include rental car facilities, public parking, a new path to get into the terminal building. So that’s a very visible project on the front,” stated Wilson.

If you’re a common at McGhee Tyson then the escalators close to the primary entrance had been a bet relating to if they might be working. 

“The past escalator, and I say that because they are being removed, is about 25 years old. So, it was put in when this building was built in the year 2000. And we’ve gotten the years of life out of them.  It’s been a long lead time on having a new escalator manufactured.”

By December, the escalators needs to be again in enterprise.

Looking forward, in 2026, count on to see the enlargement of the TSA checkpoints, rising the variety of lanes and making wait instances shorter. Then just a few years later, count on six extra gates to accommodate further departures and arrivals. That’s information to vacationers able to hit the skies to new locations.

And in case you are prepared for extra meals choices, modifications are coming to supply extra selection. 

“We would like to have more modern concessions and more concession space. To do that, we have to expand the concourse, so it will still be a few years down the road before we have additional building space to put those in. But an improved, more modern concession program is absolutely part of our plan.”

For updates on TYS’s Flight Plan, The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority has created an internet site that lays out the main points of the undertaking.