Nashville International Airport Development thread

[downtownresident]

Yeah, the fact that this was announced in front of a crowd of 350k is laughable. I’d understand if it was for other cities, but Nashville hasn’t been hurting for travelers for months. 

[Chato_reyes]

On 7/7/2021 at 4:44 PM, downtownresident said:

Yeah, the fact that this was announced in front of a crowd of 350k is laughable. I’d understand if it was for other cities, but Nashville hasn’t been hurting for travelers for months. 

It covers Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga as well. Hopefully there's quotas and those cities get more slots, but who knows.

[markhollin]

The airport has set new daily departure records, averaging over 25,000 in recent months, to move up to #24 busiest airport in the nation (up for #31 in 2019). 

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/tourism/nashville-international-airport-sees-record-passenger-numbers/article_c9e31118-e0c4-11eb-a9be-e35ad7553849.html

[downtownresident]

Excited to see passenger numbers for June, looks like we’ll be close to even with 2019. 

[MLBrumby]

Two things 'jump out' at me...

1.  This is with very little convention travel now.  That applies to other cities as well, but how many of those cities are already surpassing their 2019 numbers? 

2.  I'm guessing the airports that rank 25-30 are heavily reliant on convention travel.  That means BNA could become a top 25 airport soon if the CVB ramps up. I don't see how that's not outpacing the national average as things are (have been before the Pandemic)

Looks like the BNA  expansion is exactly what they need and very timely. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by MLBrumby

[samsonh]

1 hour ago, MLBrumby said:

Two things 'jump out' at me...

1.  This is with very little convention travel now.  That applies to other cities as well, but how many of those cities are already surpassing their 2019 numbers? 

2.  I'm guessing the airports that rank 25-30 are heavily reliant on convention travel.  That means BNA could become a top 25 airport soon if the CVB ramps up. I don't see how that's not outpacing the national average as things are (have been before the Pandemic)

Looks like the BNA  expansion is exactly what they need and very timely. 

Now we just need to be able to eat without waiting in a 30 minute line!

[LA_TN]

Here is the official release from BNA

https://flynashville.com/news/passenger-volume-and-nonstop-service-at-bna-on-the-rise

To read between the lines, Nashville is up from 31 to 24, but the primary reason for this is due to the reduction of international flights at other airports

[chris holman]

[Chato_reyes]

Thank goodness! I have 3 straight weeks of travel coming up and this is welcome news. 

[MLBrumby]

What’s with that floor? I hope in transition!

[LA_TN]

23 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

What’s with that floor? I hope in transition!

No sir! Meet the new BNA: Terrazzo floors! Thanks to the pandemic, they took advantage of the low passenger volume to expedite the new floor installation in as many areas as possible!

[smeagolsfree]

Sometimes interior/inferior decorators just need to be slapped really really hard!

[glamdring269]

We already had Global Entry/Precheck, and now that AMEX added Clear as a "free" perk we now have it as well. Does anyone know if BNA is expected to add CLEAR to the South Checkpoint? We fly Southwest 90% of the time so Clear really has no value locally for us while the airport is cut off the way it is currently.

[Chato_reyes]

Looks like the perfect storm of new food court flooring, old food court flooring, and some carpet for good measure. Perhaps overnight between now and October the carpet and old food court tiles can be ripped up and unified. In true BNA fashion I bet they pick 3pm on a summer Sunday to start, maybe the night after the grand prix race for maximum irritation.

[RonCamp]

Very interested to know if CLEAR will come to the south checkpoint.  It has been frustrating as a sometimes Delta, sometimes Southwest, sometimes AA flyer to not be able to utilize it recently.

Also, what's the latest on timeline for adding additional gates?  Every time I have been to BNA recently it has been absolutely jam packed to the gills.  The amount of gates we have just isn't going to cut it over the next few years.  Can they expand B?  Can they expand A?  What about that satellite concourse?  

[downtownresident]

42 minutes ago, RonCamp said:

Very interested to know if CLEAR will come to the south checkpoint.  It has been frustrating as a sometimes Delta, sometimes Southwest, sometimes AA flyer to not be able to utilize it recently.

Also, what's the latest on timeline for adding additional gates?  Every time I have been to BNA recently it has been absolutely jam packed to the gills.  The amount of gates we have just isn't going to cut it over the next few years.  Can they expand B?  Can they expand A?  What about that satellite concourse?  

Satellite Concourse starts construction this fall. This will allow BNA to shutter A, and rebuild with more gates and space. 

[evansnathan]

Pretty amazing photos from Aerial Southeast on Instagram LINK

 

 

[Sean blackdog]

Today this evening from Facebook BNA.
MILESTONE: Today, BNA® and HENSEL PHELPS celebrated the completion of excavation for our future International Arrivals Facility (IAF). 

The new IAF will open in 2023 with six international gates, new U.S. Customs and Border Protection passenger processing area and a corridor connecting directly to the ground transportation level of the terminal. More steel is on the way! #BNAVision #BiggerBetterBNA 
 
BY THE NUMBERS:
The IAF excavation site is 18 feet deep.
The new IAF will extend 165 feet outward from the terminal, between Concourses B and C.
44,000 cubic yards of rock were excavated from the site—the equivalent of 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools. 
On average, 55 to 60 truckloads of rock were removed per day. 
On peak days, some 80 truckloads of rock were removed.
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Tennessee Vacation myTDOT Mayor John Cooper Visit Music City Sister Cities of Nashville Consulate-General of Japan in Nashville 在ナッシュビル日本国総領事館 Japan-America Society of Tennessee, Inc.

Edited July 14, 2021 by Sean blackdog

[Chato_reyes]

I had my hands full tonight so no pictures but the sheetrock is down in front of Party Fowl, although it won't be open anytime soon. BK is still not open, but I noticed the registers were on tonight. Not sure what the holdup is.

Pickup was another complete cluster-f tonight, between Southwest having 0 flights on time and these ridiculous lane closures, the backup started at I-40. Something needs to change quickly.

[Sean blackdog]

Today this morning from Nashville Business Journal.

JUL 16, 2021 06:55 AM CDT

Airlines leave some destinations in the cold as summer air travel creeps back to pre-Covid levels

Nashville airport seats

 

What a long, strange trip it’s been ... that is, assuming you can still get there from here. 

The panic and shock that rocked the airline industry to its core in 2020 is fast giving way to one of the most explosive periods of growth and shifts in market share that America’s air carriers have participated in for decades. Business destinations are out, locales with sunnier dispositions are in. Globally, the number of U.S. flights to Canada, Europe, Asia and regions of the South Pacific is in the doldrums, while routes to Mexico, the Caribbean and regions of South America are at or above prepandemic levels.

The map below illustrates how the pandemic has restructured which destinations are in demand from Nashville International Airport. The 10 destinations that saw the most seats added between the second quarters of 2019 and 2021 are shown in red; those that saw the most seats dropped in that period are shown in blue. Following the national trend, the map reflects renewed traction in leisure travel, especially to Florida. Indeed, of the 10 destinations that saw the most seats added, four are located in the Sunshine State. About half of the destinations that saw seats slashed, meanwhile, are located in and around New England. 

Regardless of where everyone is flying, overall passenger volume at BNA has returned to prepandemic levels, airport officials announced on July 9. The average number of daily passengers screened at BNA now stands at 25,124, up from 2019’s prepandemic high of 23,543 passengers per day. 

“As the pandemic wanes, confidence has returned to air travel in Middle Tennessee, proving the strength of our market,” Doug Kreulen, president and CEO of the airport, said in a news release. 

Even if passenger counts are back, flight counts are slightly lagging. At BNA, daily commercial airline departures have increased to 251 flights per day, up from the pandemic low of 78. BNA’s all-time high is 272 daily departures.

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Sean blackdog

[Sean blackdog]

 

Update from BNA June 2021. 
Climb going up to 1,549,242  passengers.  

Edited July 17, 2021 by Sean blackdog

[Bark At The Sun]

On 7/15/2021 at 10:35 PM, Chato_reyes said:

I had my hands full tonight so no pictures but the sheetrock is down in front of Party Fowl, although it won't be open anytime soon. BK is still not open, but I noticed the registers were on tonight. Not sure what the holdup is.

Pickup was another complete cluster-f tonight, between Southwest having 0 flights on time and these ridiculous lane closures, the backup started at I-40. Something needs to change quickly.

Burger King was open this morning.   Flew out thursday and was closed, but they were open today and the airport was slammed.   

[Chato_reyes]

Got through security and watched them shut the gate at BK at 7:52, hopefully they ran out of food and they intend to stay open past sunset. I also got a peek (but no pictures) in the tailgate space when the workers popped out to rip some carpet up, totally cold shell at the moment as far as the eye could see back towards C-9. Lines are way down all around which is great.

[Chato_reyes]

Not much new Intel in this article other than brass is not thrilled with Fraport. Looks like the next hard deadline is 12/31 for openings.  https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2021/07/22/nashville-bna-airport-sees-more-passengers-covid-19-variants-threaten/8046007002/

Here now and there's not much new since Monday. There are some nice new high top tables between Swett's and urban juicer.

[LA_TN]

6 hours ago, Chato_reyes said:

Not much new Intel in this article other than brass is not thrilled with Fraport. Looks like the next hard deadline is 12/31 for openings.  https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2021/07/22/nashville-bna-airport-sees-more-passengers-covid-19-variants-threaten/8046007002/

Here now and there's not much new since Monday. There are some nice new high top tables between Swett's and urban juicer.

And remember the previous deadline was May 31, for the current phase