Nashville International Airport Development thread

[Bos2Nash]

Many European airports make use of shuttle buses. While I am not the biggest fan of them, if they are electric/natural gas/hydrogen powered, it really isnt that bad of an idea. Maitanence wise it is an added expense, but that is where the board weighed short term and long term costs (hopefully). Boston's Logan airport built a satelitte terminal for Terminal A a number of years ago to serve 10 new gates and the tunnel that serves it works marvelously. The trick for Logan is they are soooo pinched for land that buses probably were never an option because it would take away real estate for equipment and aircraft movement. 

That all being said, I am genuinely surprised that a tunnel wasn't the actual solution. 

[dxfret]

I see that the Memphis Intl Airport is closed for all passenger flights today (Friday, Feb. 19) due to water pressure issues.  Apparently there are major water issues across the Memphis area. The release says cargo operations are not closed, however I’ve seen that FedEx has suffered severe operations issues at MEM all week necessitating rerouting via its other hub cities. Not a good week for MEM.

[jmtunafish]

1 hour ago, Bos2Nash said:

Many European airports make use of shuttle buses. While I am not the biggest fan of them, if they are electric/natural gas/hydrogen powered, it really isnt that bad of an idea. Maitanence wise it is an added expense, but that is where the board weighed short term and long term costs (hopefully). Boston's Logan airport built a satelitte terminal for Terminal A a number of years ago to serve 10 new gates and the tunnel that serves it works marvelously. The trick for Logan is they are soooo pinched for land that buses probably were never an option because it would take away real estate for equipment and aircraft movement. 

That all being said, I am genuinely surprised that a tunnel wasn't the actual solution. 

Several airports in the US use them, too.  While not as sexy or futuristic as a people mover or some other rail system, airport wonks like me actually enjoy the buses and getting that super close-up view of the beehive of activity taking place on the tarmac.

Here's a video of one such bus at LAX:

 

[PillowTalk4]

10 hours ago, LA_TN said:

...

When we compare to the DTW (Detroit) and ORD (Chicago) tunnels, they serve 30 and 40 gates; while BNA will be 8 gates. The expense of building a tunnel to serve 8 gates would not be considered wise use of funds, considering the number of passengers that would be served. BUT, maybe in the future, is the thinking.....

I don't know much about the cost of boring a tunnel and the ROI on making a decision to do it.  But, in DCA (Arlington, VA) there is a tunnel with moving sidewalks that goes from a parking garage to terminal A which only has 9 gates.  Granted you can access terminal B from there, but most people familiar with DCA know not to do that because the transition between terminals A and B is a winding corridor that doesn't enter into the airline check-in area of the terminal.  So, you have to take stairs or escalators up to that level.

That being said, I actually like the SkyBridge options.  I'm not a fan of shuttle buses at airports except to get to a parking lot (if necessary).   IAD (Dulles) used these "mobile lounges" to shuttle passengers between the main terminal and the flight terminals.  I hate these things.  Thankfully, IAD now has an underground train system that is much better.

  

Edited February 19, 2021 by PillowTalk4

[PruneTracy]

On 2/19/2021 at 12:08 PM, PillowTalk4 said:

IAD (Dulles) used these "mobile lounges" to shuttle passengers between the main terminal and the flight terminals.  I hate these things.  Thankfully, IAD now has an underground train system that is much better.

OK, so hear me out: we use mobile honky tonks instead. Or pedal taverns! 

[titanhog]

6 hours ago, PruneTracy said:

OK, so hear me out: we use mobile honky tonks instead. Or pedal taverns! 

BNA Hayride 

[Hey_Hey]

On 2/19/2021 at 2:20 AM, LA_TN said:

When we compare to the DTW (Detroit) and ORD (Chicago) tunnels, they serve 30 and 40 gates; while BNA will be 8 gates. The expense of building a tunnel to serve 8 gates would not be considered wise use of funds, considering the number of passengers that would be served. BUT, maybe in the future, is the thinking.....

There were 4 options considered:
1) shuttle buses
2) tunnel - estimated cost $100 million

That’s why I specifically mentioned the Boring Company. They are using a somewhat new approach to tunneling and just built a considerably longer two tunnel/three station system for the Las Vegas convention center for a total of $49 million.  It sounds like they are now getting close to expanding the project in Las Vegas as well. Their tunnels are small bore, so you can’t put a train in them, but you can put moving sidewalks and regular vehicles through them. 
 

It may not make sense to spend $100 million on it, but would it make sense to spend $30 million on it? Probably so, especially since the marginal cost over a shuttle system would be much smaller than the $30 million price tag. 
 

I would also add that if they do a shuttle system they have to use something other than the typical vehicles used for parking lot runs or hotel runs. They need to invest in larger, more spacious and modern buses that are electric so they get rid of the exhaust around people. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Hey_Hey

[PillowTalk4]

On 2/20/2021 at 7:18 PM, PruneTracy said:

OK, so hear me out: we use mobile honky tonks instead. Or pedal taverns! 

at least with a pedal tavern you can enjoy a cocktail while pedaling to your gate...

Edited February 22, 2021 by PillowTalk4

[BnaBreaker]

3 hours ago, PillowTalk4 said:

at least with a pedal tavern you can enjoy a cocktail while pedaling to your gate...

"This is your captain speaking.  On the behalf of your flight crew I want to thank you for choosing British Airways... this is flight 1678 with direct service to London Heathrow... we expect clear skies for the duration of the flight... but please bare with us as we wait to clear the group of drunken Woo girls that have gotten out of their pedal tavern and wandered out onto the runway screaming "yas queen" for some reason.  Annnnd it now appears that one of them is ugly crying and inconsolable over a broken high heel, so we may be delayed for some time.  I'll be sure to pass along any updates as I receive them, and I thank you for your patience."

Edited February 22, 2021 by BnaBreaker

[chris holman]

https://www.tennessean.com/picture-gallery/news/local/davidson /2014/07/21/nashville-airport-over-the-years/12946767/

 

Nashville's airport over the years. What a transformation!!!!!

[Andrew_3289]

Space in between the new BNA parking garages, facing the terminals, is this where the hotel is supposed to go? 

[LA_TN]

1 hour ago, Andrew_3289 said:

Space in between the new BNA parking garages, facing the terminals, is this where the hotel is supposed to go? 

Correct, it will be an 8 story Hilton branded hotel atop parking garage B. As soon as they get the superstructure up for the lobby (and move the crane) they can begin 

[downtownresident]

From today. Picture was taken from P3 in the slightly older Terminal Garage: 

Baggage Claim renovations are nice, but very sterile. It’s very bright, so it no longer feels like a dungeon down there. 
 

D Concourse is nice, but the odd spread out store in the main section is weird. Hopefully this gets redeveloped into something resembling a store, and possibly a restaurant once COVID passes. 
 

Both of our flights to/from Dallas were pretty much completely full, and the airport was full and rocking both days. 

Edited February 28, 2021 by downtownresident

[Sean blackdog]

Friday evening from Facebook BNA. 

[Skyscrapergeek]

3 hours ago, downtownresident said:

Baggage Claim renovations are nice, but very sterile. It’s very bright, so it no longer feels like a dungeon down there. 
 

D Concourse is nice, but the odd spread out store in the main section is weird. Hopefully this gets redeveloped into something resembling a store, and possibly a restaurant once COVID passes. 

Agree with you on this. Huge improvements but needs a little fine tuning. Baggage claim went from dungeon to operating room and I do think covid has something to do with the odd “store” in D. 

[Binbin98]

5 hours ago, downtownresident said:

From today. Picture was taken from P3 in the slightly older Terminal Garage: 

Baggage Claim renovations are nice, but very sterile. It’s very bright, so it no longer feels like a dungeon down there. 
 

D Concourse is nice, but the odd spread out store in the main section is weird. Hopefully this gets redeveloped into something resembling a store, and possibly a restaurant once COVID passes. 
 

Both of our flights to/from Dallas were pretty much completely full, and the airport was full and rocking both days. 

This building looks good though. I truly feel like Nashville will get a lot of new routes domestic and international when this covid is over, and I didn’t always feel like this would happen. Air travel is markedly shifting towards leisure rather than business (although business travel will still be important, people were shifting towards remote due to convenience before the virus), and so my prediction would be that cities such as Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando, Nashville, New Orleans, Tampa, Honolulu etc.. will benefit from this trend and gain many new routes as the decade progresses.

[dxfret]

Nashville BNA will not likely add a lot of new domestic routes simply because there are few cities that are not already served by nonstop flights. Carriers like Allegiant, Frontier and Sun Country  have added numerous small markets and Southwest continues to grow its dominance with nonstops to practically everywhere.  As for international service, British Airways will resume the London Heathrow nonstop as soon as governments allow. It is unlikely further international destinations will happen for at least 3 years.  Leisure travel is growing rapidly right now, however business travel will return rapidly post pandemic. 

[bigeasy]

Does Nashville's airport punch above it's weight class? Every time I fly out of BNA it always feels like a small airport compared to other cities similar in size. Maybe there are just some big jumps in passengers from our ranking to say 5 or so spots above us? 

[LA_TN]

13 hours ago, bigeasy said:

Does Nashville's airport punch above it's weight class? Every time I fly out of BNA it always feels like a small airport compared to other cities similar in size. Maybe there are just some big jumps in passengers from our ranking to say 5 or so spots above us? 

How much does the experience of the Terminal impact your analysis? I 100% agree the airport feels small; part of that is due to the layout of the concourses (quickly divides the amount of people) and also the lack of tall ceilings with open spaces and moving sidewalks

But in reality, that BNA terminal was pushing a lot of people through a small area, pre-pandemic. Since then, BNA has been as high as 23rd in USA vs 30 pre-pandemic. BNA has far outperformed a lot of airports that lost business travelers and/or long haul international flights

[jmtunafish]

9 hours ago, LA_TN said:

How much does the experience of the Terminal impact your analysis? I 100% agree the airport feels small; part of that is due to the layout of the concourses (quickly divides the amount of people) and also the lack of tall ceilings with open spaces and moving sidewalks

But in reality, that BNA terminal was pushing a lot of people through a small area, pre-pandemic. Since then, BNA has been as high as 23rd in USA vs 30 pre-pandemic. BNA has far outperformed a lot of airports that lost business travelers and/or long haul international flights

I don't agree that Nashville's airport feels smaller than airports in its peer cities.  I was in Cincinnati's airport recently, and it was just sad.  Soaring ceilings, big wide hallways, but hardly any people.   About the only peer cities to Nashville who have busier airports are Salt Lake, Charlotte, and Orlando.  Otherwise, Nashville's airport is busier than Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, St Louis, Indianapolis, New Orleans, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Columbus, Memphis, Birmingham, Sacramento.  Nashville was just behind Portland OR's airport pre-pandemic but surpassed it during the pandemic. 

[bigeasy]

Maybe it is the aesthetic of it or the convenience of everything since you really don't have to walk that far to get from garage/rental area/security/etc. I can't quite place what it is, but whenever I fly out of Nashville it just feels like a small town airport. And that isn't a bad thing. I just always am surprised by how many passengers it handles yet it still feels like the BNA of my childhood. The renovations could change lots of this. I also might be comparing it to cities that I shouldn't in my head. (Tampa, Orlando, Charlotte)

[downtownresident]

5 minutes ago, bigeasy said:

Maybe it is the aesthetic of it or the convenience of everything since you really don't have to walk that far to get from garage/rental area/security/etc. I can't quite place what it is, but whenever I fly out of Nashville it just feels like a small town airport. And that isn't a bad thing. I just always am surprised by how many passengers it handles yet it still feels like the BNA of my childhood. The renovations could change lots of this. I also might be comparing it to cities that I shouldn't in my head. (Tampa, Orlando, Charlotte)

I have a feeling that the new lobby/shopping area will go a long way toward addressing this. The new lobby will have sweeping high ceilings and be substantially larger than the ticketing area before. 

[Sean blackdog]

Today this morning from Facebook Sky5. 
Bigger yellow mobile crane is up. 

[Binbin98]

4 hours ago, downtownresident said:

I have a feeling that the new lobby/shopping area will go a long way toward addressing this. The new lobby will have sweeping high ceilings and be substantially larger than the ticketing area before. 

I think this will help with adding flights both domestic (although BNA is quickly running out of domestic destinations to add) and international. I’m not saying Nashville’s airport will be like Atlanta, but I would be willing to bet once the international arrivals part of the terminal is built that there will be some additional international routes added.

[LA_TN]

15 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

I don't agree that Nashville's airport feels smaller than airports in its peer cities.  I was in Cincinnati's airport recently, and it was just sad.  Soaring ceilings, big wide hallways, but hardly any people.   About the only peer cities to Nashville who have busier airports are Salt Lake, Charlotte, and Orlando.  Otherwise, Nashville's airport is busier than Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, St Louis, Indianapolis, New Orleans, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Columbus, Memphis, Birmingham, Sacramento.  Nashville was just behind Portland OR's airport pre-pandemic but surpassed it during the pandemic. 

OK. Agree. Sometimes we must be thankful for all that BNA is! It's easy to look at Detroit's Terminal and ask why not here? But there are many around that envy BNA - especially the new Concourse D. And we can expect the new Satellite Concourse and the new Concourse A to be just as amazing. BNA is a great place, I just wish there were some moving sidewalks. But BNA feels like a busy place - pre-pandemic it was feeling crowded!