Nashville International Airport Development thread

[MLBrumby]

That's what I was curious to know. Love flying in/out of BNA, but haven't in some time. 

[markhollin]

Airport expansion lands major permit for the parking garage addition:

http://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/20859260/real-estate-notes-bna-parking-project-lands-456m-permit

 

[markhollin]

From the Nashville Post:

BNA parking project lands $4.56M permit

The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority has landed a permit for its parking structure now under construction.

To be called the Parking and Transportation Center, the six-level, 2,000-space facility (a part of which is pictured) is slated to be opened in summer 2018 and is the first element comprising the authority’s approximately $1 billion BNA Vision expansion plan.

The permit is valued at $4.56 million.

Global architecture firm Atkins is designing the building, with the Nashville office of Kansas City-based JE Dunn Construction serving as general contractor.

The parking structure will be located directly south of BNA’s Short Term Garage. The first floor (called a Ground Transportation Center) will be limited to commercial vehicles such as taxis, limos and shuttles and to ride-sharing.

Facility features will include a parking space guidance system, a green-screen vegetation wall, the capacity for 20,000 gallons of rainwater harvesting for landscape irrigation and (on the top level) a 50-kilowatt solar array.
 

[bigeasy]

Went about 5 years without flying, but now I have done it twice of the past few weeks. Maybe I am just more comfortable or familiar with BNA, but I really love how easy it is to navigate. I think they have a great setup as well when it comes to the security. I flew to Midway which is by no means a bad airport, but I have never really liked the security area there. It feels very congested having the ID check and security right next to each other. It felt very unorganized as well. They had one long line till you got close to the ID check and then it just because a free for all.  

[NashRugger]

United's nonstop to SFO has proven successful enough to add another daily. This time it'll be a 9am departure added with a new redeye inbound arriving at 530am starting August 15th. I also sense this is because of Virgin America's new service in September.

https://flynashville.com/news-and-media/press-releases/Pages/050817United.aspx

 

[dxfret]

BNA is well-covered to the Bay Area. With the announced new flights we will soon have 3 daily nonstops to SFO (2 on United and 1 on Virgin America (Alaska), in addition to the daily nonstop flight to Oakland on Southwest Airlines.  

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/05/09/taking-flight-nashville-lands-even-more-nonstop.html

[wboarder44]

Southwest just announced this morning direct flights to Milwaukee twice daily starting in November.  They will also start flying to Cancun nonstop in November as well.   

[BnaBreaker]

2 hours ago, wboarder44 said:

Southwest just announced this morning direct flights to Milwaukee twice daily starting in November.  They will also start flying to Cancun nonstop in November as well.   

There's one of the last major cities Nashville didn't have direct access to, checked off the list.  Milwaukee is a really great town.  Now, I've got to imagine that Alaska Airlines picks up Portland, OR one of these days, and that'd be the last one, as far as I can think of.  I really can't believe Nashville and Portland aren't connected by air given their many similarities.  

[wboarder44]

Looks like the Southwest Cancun nonstop is Saturday only.  I really wish it was more frequent than that.  American and Delta already fly that seasonally on Saturday.

[volsfanwill]

we need a daily direct to Milwaukee to replenish the Preds bench.

[Hey_Hey]

On 5/18/2017 at 11:33 AM, BnaBreaker said:

There's one of the last major cities Nashville didn't have direct access to, checked off the list.  Milwaukee is a really great town.  Now, I've got to imagine that Alaska Airlines picks up Portland, OR one of these days, and that'd be the last one, as far as I can think of.  I really can't believe Nashville and Portland aren't connected by air given their many similarities.  

Is Portland the most desired nonstop that Nashville doesn't have currently? Some other mid-to-major domestic cities that we are lacking (Louisville, Memphis, Birmingham are easy drives and not included): Buffalo, Oklahoma City, Richmond, Albuquerque, Honolulu, Omaha.  All of those, with the exception of Honolulu, are Southwest cities.  None of those are as sexy as PDX, although both Oklahoma City and Richmond would seem to be routes that would support a daily nonstop. 

What moves do others think airlines will make for BNA in the next couple years? More international flights? Places like Punta Cana, Montego Bay, and Puerto Vallarta on Southwest or London or Paris on legacy carriers?  There aren't a whole lot of options for expanding domestic nonstops, so international destinations seem to be a logical next step.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Hey_Hey

[markhollin]

New parking garage (5 levels) update.

 

 

[dmillsphoto]

Tower crane going up for the new parking garage.

[UTgrad09]

9 hours ago, dmillsphoto said:

Tower crane going up for the new parking garage.

 

Did they get FAA clearance for that?

[MidTenn1]

8 hours ago, UTgrad09 said:

Did they get FAA clearance for that?

I had to get FAA clearance to put up street light towers in Smyrna, once. It was near the airport.

[markhollin]

Airport expects record-breaking numbers after CMA Fest, Bonnaroo, and Stanley Cup Game 6:

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/06/12/airport-expects-record-breaking-numbers-following.html

[markhollin]

Nashville International Airport is the country's fastest-growing airport for its size, according to an industry analyst group. The airport has been awarded the Airport Traffic Growth Award from Airline Network News & Analysis (abbreviated anna.aero), according to a news release, recognizing the airport's 11.2 percent growth in passenger traffic during 2016 in the mid-sized airport category.

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/06/13/nashvilles-booming-airport-is-one-of-the-countrys.html

[LA_TN]

On Monday, June 12, more than 25,000 passengers departed BNA, setting a new single-day record

http://bit.ly/2s8M4ZO

And security wait times never exceeded 15 minutes

Edited June 16, 2017 by LA_TN

[titanhog]

Nashville mayor looking at the possibility of selling Nashville International Airport and privatizing it to raise money to fund mass transportation.  Thoughts?

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/06/26/exclusive-mayor-barry-exploring-the-sale-of.html

[jmtunafish]

42 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Nashville mayor looking at the possibility of selling Nashville International Airport and privatizing it to raise money to fund mass transportation.  Thoughts?

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2017/06/26/exclusive-mayor-barry-exploring-the-sale-of.html

I don't have a subscription to the NBJ, but it looks like the headline is misleading.  The headline says the mayor is exploring selling the airport, but the first line in the story says she's exploring the privatization of operations at the airport.  Big difference.  To my knowledge, the only privately owned commercial airport in the US is in Branson MO.  But it's probably more common for government-owned airports to "sell" the airport operations to private corporations.

On the other hand, both Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London are privately owned.  If BNA could be run as efficiently as either Heathrow and Gatwick, I'd be all for it.  And how cool would it be if one of those owners were to buy BNA?  Does the article indicate if there's already someone out there willing to buy BNA or BNA's operations, and how much it would bring in?

Whatever happens, I'm impressed with the mayor's creativity.

Edited June 26, 2017 by jmtunafish

[Jamie Hall]

Based on a short NPR report I heard on the way to work today, sounds like the plan is to privatize the airport under a long-term lease agreement. Already at least one group interested. Berry is watching St. Louis as a guide, since they're going through a similar search for a potential operator for their airport.

Deal would be worth billions if it happens, which would be a massive boost for Metro's light rail plan. At least Berry's thinking outside the box a bit in searching for funding rather than relying on the feds or state.

[markhollin]

Here is the Tennessean's coverage of the possible lease of BNA.  (Not behind any paywall)

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/06/26/mayor-barry-looks-privatizing-nashville-airport-generate-transit-funds/429000001/

[Gracie]

Is there info somewhere online about the renovations at BNA? I poked around the Airport Authority's website to no avail. I flew recently and was reminded how boring BNA is. The brown carpet is going away, right? It is the worst. 

[Vrtigo]

1 hour ago, Gracie said:

Is there info somewhere online about the renovations at BNA? I poked around the Airport Authority's website to no avail. I flew recently and was reminded how boring BNA is. The brown carpet is going away, right? It is the worst. 

If you fly a lot, you also know how much worse than Nashville many airports are. It may feel a bit basic or uninspired, but it is at least clean, well-maintained, and relatively modernized. 

[Gracie]

2 hours ago, Vrtigo said:

If you fly a lot, you also know how much worse than Nashville many airports are. It may feel a bit basic or uninspired, but it is at least clean, well-maintained, and relatively modernized. 

Until last year I flew quite a bit (mostly out of DCA, which is architecturally interesting and nice). Sure PHL, LGA and EWR stink. But I'd say most of our peer cities have airports that are just as clean and much more architecturally interesting than BNA.