Norfolk International Airport

[virginia pe]

On 3/10/2023 at 10:35 PM, walmartjamesbond said:

I’m wondering if the departures curb is going to be two stories? Where departures are on top and arrivals on the bottom.

It's a good idea, but a ramp to get cars up to the second level, and another one to get back down to ground level would take a lot of real estate.  I don't think there is nearly enough room.

[Arctic_Tern]

2 hours ago, virginia pe said:

It's a good idea, but a ramp to get cars up to the second level, and another one to get back down to ground level would take a lot of real estate.  I don't think there is nearly enough room.

Doing that would put the road through the pedestrian walkway.

Looking at the plans, right now it looks like they're going to keep arrival pickup where it is, and make a mirrored departures dropoff at the current dropoff building.

[BFG]

I wonder if they keep the brutalist look or go for something a little more modern? One problem I have with ORF is the lack of natural light in the Departures terminal. 

[mintscraft56]

Just now, BFG said:

I wonder if they keep the brutalist look or go for something a little more modern? One problem I have with ORF is the lack of natural light in the Departures terminal. 

I certainly like the brutalist look. I really hope they keep it with all this new development going on. Its a good defining factor of our airport, it makes our unique and totally recognizable. Its nice to upgrade our airport and make it modern, however I think we can afford to make it modern while also sticking to the current style.  

[Urbanlooker]

ORF received a 4 star regional airport rating at the Skytrax world airport awards 2023 in Amsterdam. Great way to get some international recognition. 

[mintscraft56]

14 hours ago, Urbanlooker said:

ORF received a 4 star regional airport rating at the Skytrax world airport awards 2023 in Amsterdam. Great way to get some international recognition. 

One of only 7? Hell, I wonder how many stars we will have by the time the new construction comes in full swing! 

[baobabs727]

https://skytraxratings.com/airports/norfolk-international-airport

ORF rating page from Skytrax

[walmartjamesbond]

ORF’s budget was approved. Article

After reading that here are my key take aways:

1. They are no longer planning a seven gate concourse at the end of A. It is now set to be a 3 gate concourse with construction potentially starting in Q1 2024. I hope to see this changed to at least 5 gates but, take what we can get.

2. Moving walkway is starting soon. 

3. My personal favorite: The new departures curb. It’s going to make the airport feel a lot more modern. Looks like lots of natural light compared to what we have now. Construction starting potentially at the end of 2024 or start of 2025.

4. TSA will be combined removing burger king, the local, and hudson news. I would guess they would relocate to where the TSA is now as that would be open space. 

[BFG]

Love it! When I go to other airports and see how bright their gates are, it almost depresses me to come back to ORF with the lack of natural light. 

Odd that they cut back the number of gates by more than 50%, tho. Wonder what’s up with that?

[vdogg]

1 hour ago, BFG said:

Love it! When I go to other airports and see how bright their gates are, it almost depresses me to come back to ORF with the lack of natural light. 

Odd that they cut back the number of gates by more than 50%, tho. Wonder what’s up with that?

My strong suspicion is that they need the extra capacity sooner rather than later, and reducing the initial build allows them to start construction now using existing funds. I don't think anyone really expected passenger count to grow as dramatically as it did last year.

[mintscraft56]

21 hours ago, walmartjamesbond said:

ORF’s budget was approved. Article

After reading that here are my key take aways:

1. They are no longer planning a seven gate concourse at the end of A. It is now set to be a 3 gate concourse with construction potentially starting in Q1 2024. I hope to see this changed to at least 5 gates but, take what we can get.

2. Moving walkway is starting soon. 

3. My personal favorite: The new departures curb. It’s going to make the airport feel a lot more modern. Looks like lots of natural light compared to what we have now. Construction starting potentially at the end of 2024 or start of 2025.

4. TSA will be combined removing burger king, the local, and hudson news. I would guess they would relocate to where the TSA is now as that would be open space. 

I like it! However, ill be missing this design. I really wanted that rounded area with the gates on each side, sigh. 

[walmartjamesbond]

7 hours ago, mintscraft56 said:

I like it! However, ill be missing this design. I really wanted that rounded area with the gates on each side, sigh. 

I think it could be a blessing in disguise. After this is built, the only other option for expansion is concourse C. Which, at our rate would happen sooner as 3 gates wouldn't cut it.

[mintscraft56]

16 hours ago, walmartjamesbond said:

I think it could be a blessing in disguise. After this is built, the only other option for expansion is concourse C. Which, at our rate would happen sooner as 3 gates wouldn't cut it.

Well, your not wrong. But idk. I just think it would have been better for a bigger gate area in the long run. 

[EJ_LEWIS]

Norfolk International Airport Hotel is desperately needed as traffic count continue to rise.  

https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/norfolk-airport-hotel-is-desperately-needed/

[BFG]

Seems like this is all the more reason to build more hotels downtown/in the SPQ and maybe OV. Not everything has to be “luxury” apartments. A new 30-story hotel on the open corner of MacArthur would be a nice kickstart to revitalizing the mall. 

[Urbanlooker]

Breeze will be starting 2x weekly flights to Syracuse NY beginning June 1. 

[mintscraft56]

15 hours ago, Urbanlooker said:

Breeze will be starting 2x weekly flights to Syracuse NY beginning June 1. 

Breeze seemed like I good deal at first when it was introduced. But now its a great deal! 

Breeze is doing so much for us and our airport's growth. I wonder how long this will continue, hopefully forever.

[walmartjamesbond]

busiest March in history

 

The airport reported a 4.6% increase in passenger activity for March 2023 with 333,484 passengers. The passenger count for March 2022 was 318,835.

[BFG]

Barring a major catastrophe, it looks like ORF's increasing numbers are here to stay. According to the press release, January-March 2023 saw a 13% increase over the same time frame from last year.

[walmartjamesbond]

I imagine April and May will be a fantastic month but June - August might blow last years numbers out of the water. 

[mintscraft56]

6 hours ago, walmartjamesbond said:

I imagine April and May will be a fantastic month but June - August might blow last years numbers out of the water. 

Speaking about water, SITW will probably blow this April above all others due to the amount of people it brings in. If 2019 was 21 million in revenue, just imagine what 2023's count will be with a expected bigger audience. 

[Urbanlooker]

I think they should have stuck with the 7 gate addition with passenger number increases like this becoming the normal. Hopefully flight service continues to increase as well. 

[BFG]

My bad if this was posted elsewhere, but I watched some of the State of the City address and noticed this rendering. Looks like this will be the new lobby area of the Departures terminal.

[walmartjamesbond]

From 1970 to 2023. Wow.

[Arctic_Tern]

On 4/19/2023 at 11:50 AM, BFG said:

My bad if this was posted elsewhere, but I watched some of the State of the City address and noticed this rendering. Looks like this will be the new lobby area of the Departures terminal.

Did they mention a timeline at all? Love the way it looks