St. John’s International Airport announced Tuesday the opening date of the first phase of the expanded airport terminal building will be July 12.
The construction for the first phase of the expansion began in late 2014 and has added 145,000 square feet to the departures area of the airport terminal.
The first flights on the morning of July 12 will operate through the new pre-board screening area, which will be accessible through the first floor adjacent to the check-in area, the airport said in a news release. The new departures lounge will feature additional seating and gate capacity, and more food and beverage and retail outlets.
Passenger traffic has grown significantly since the Airport was privatized in 1998 and the existing Terminal Building was reopened in 2002.
Last year, there were over 1.5 million passengers who passed through the Airport, a volume well-beyond the design capacity of the existing building of 908,000 passengers. As a result of this passenger growth, a 10-year plan was announced in 2017 that includes an investment of $200 million into the airport to expand and enhance facilities in order to accommodate existing and anticipate future passenger traffic volumes.
Construction on the second phase will begin in 2019 and add about 100,000 square feet to the arrivals area. When the expansion project is completed in 2022, the airport terminal building will be more than double its existing size at 420,000 square feet.
When the East Expansion (Departures) opens in July 2018, passengers will enjoy the following 5 new food and beverage and five retail outlets in Departures Lounge (YellowBelly brewery, Newfoundland Chocolate Company, Booster Juice, Heritage Shop, Breakwater Place (Relay) ant Tim Hortons).
Source: The Telegram and others