Here are the details on Wilmington Airport's ambitious $13 million expansion plans
Matthew Korfhage, Delaware News Journal
Updated 6 min read
Wilmington Airport will embark this year on an ambitious expansion that could at least double the airport's ability to board passengers, say officials at the Delaware River and Bay Authority, the bi-state entity that has managed the Wilmington Airport for nearly 30 years.
Parking will expand. The terminal will grow. And if DRBA officials get their way, the airport will also add departure gates.
Plans are still taking shape, and their scope is dependent on federal dollars that have yet to arrive. But including a lease purchase last year, the DRBA has budgeted $13 million for a project that could mean more capacity for flights, the potential ability to serve multiple airlines, more room for waiting passengers and faster TSA screening. Maybe some added retail to boot, or accommodation for rental cars.
A rendering of a planned 6,000 square foot expansion of the Wilmington airport terminal that could increase the airport's ability to board planes by double or more by adding boarding gates, TSA screening lanes and passenger waiting space.
These plans underline optimism about commercial flights at Wilmington Airport that would have seemed unthinkable even two years ago when Frontier Airlines jettisoned Delaware for a second time. The DRBA, meanwhile, appeared to be in jeopardy of losing its tenure as airport operator after its lease renewal was denied.
“We are doing better, faster than we ever have done in terms of passenger activity and growth,” said DRBA director of airports and deputy executive director Stephen Williams. “We obviously have more activity, more destinations, slightly larger aircraft perhaps in use. So we reached those milestones faster than we ever have before than in any other time that we had air service."
Wilmington Airport will demolish a neighboring hotel to make way for expansion
The Quality Inn & Suites Skyways hotel near New Castle will be demolished to make way for an expansion at neighboring Wilmington Airport. On February 1, 2024, construction fencing is up and workers are beginning to remove hazardous materials in advance of demolition.
But as the number of passengers ballooned, Wilmington Airport has also seen a few growing pains.
Its parking lots filled to capacity during the holiday season, outlining parking needs for both customers and airport employees. The boarding area is tight, and the airport’s sole departure gate also starkly limits the flights that can leave the airport in a given day, Williams said.
“We screen and board one flight, to one destination at a time,” said Williams. “So that's something we want to get away from. We want to have a minimum of two boarding gates.”
DRBA began preparing to expand the airport just a few months after Avelo service began. In July 2023, the DRBA board ratified plans to buy out the lease of the neighboring Quality Inn and Suites Skyways hotel, located on about 5 acres of airport land.
That purchase was paid for in part by the sale of another piece of airport land. In 2021, Citibank paid the DRBA $10 million for a 16-acre parcel of airport land containing their Delaware offices, which the bank had been renting for decades.
The Quality Inn & Suites Skyways hotel near New Castle will be demolished to make way for an expansion at neighboring Wilmington Airport. On Feb. 1, 2024, construction fencing is up and workers are beginning to remove hazardous materials in advance of demolition.
As of Feb. 1, construction fencing already surrounds the former Skyways hotel, which closed in October. The airport took possession in November, with plans to demolish the hotel and a vacant restaurant. The neighboring MedExpress urgent care center was not part of the purchase, and will remain.
The immediate plans are to simply increase parking capacity. But in the future, some of that space could be used for other amenities like car rentals, retail, grab-and-go restaurants or improved vehicle access to the airport, Williams said.
“The parking is a component of that, but it is not exclusively parking,” Williams said. "It is related to activities which enhance the customer experience."
As of early February, construction crews are already at work removing hazardous materials to prepare for demolition of the hotel, says project engineer Gregory Suchanoff. The project is budgeted at a little over $3 million.
Wilmington Airport terminal renovations could increase capacity, and allow multiple simultaneous plane departures
A rendering of a planned 6,000 square foot expansion of the Wilmington airport terminal that could increase the airport's ability to board planes by double or more by adding boarding gates, TSA screening lanes and passenger waiting space.
The airport terminal improvements will be a much longer project, with a somewhat less certain future, according to officials.
The DRBA's 2024 capital improvement program budget sets aside $6.6 million for the terminal expansion, including nearly $2 million this year, on a project that might take years to complete.
But much depends on federal funding, said Williams. The airport has applied for just shy of $12 million in federal funds from Biden’s 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to support ambitious plans that would increase the airport’s capacity to send out commercial flights, expand security screening space and add amenities to draw in customers.
The lower $6.6 million outlined in DRBA's budget is a realistic hedge against an uncertain response from federal officials, says Suchanoff, lead engineer on the project. Williams characterized this bet as reasonable, based on President Biden’s stated goals for transportation infrastructure, and the fact that the airport missed out on previous rounds of funding.
The project’s initial goals are simply to better accommodate existing passenger demand, Williams said. The Wilmington Airport's current limitations come down to simple math, he said.
The airport has more than enough apron to park up to five planes. But just a single plane can depart from the airport’s sole boarding gate in any given 90 minutes. And only about 120 passengers can get through its single TSA screening gate in a given hour.
“And then there's the space limitations, once you are through screening,” said Suchanoff.
“We’re talking about the footprint of this 1955 building that has never changed," Williams agreed. "We've never improved its capacity.”
The terminal expansion would add 6,000 square feet to the terminal, which would mean more room for passengers, TSA screening areas and additional boarding gates for airplanes. Other potential improvements would include bathroom capacity, and baggage claim operations, as well as additional concessions.
Politicians, local leaders and members of Avelo Airlines cut a ceremonial ribbon to commemorate the airline company's first flight from Wilmington to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The primary goal is to give Wilmington Airport the ability to screen and board at least two aircraft simultaneously. This adds flexibility for Avelo, said Williams. The added capacity would also allow Wilmington Airport to accommodate flights from multiple carriers if, say, Frontier or JetBlue wanted to offer routes. The DRBA is happy with what Avelo has done, said Williams, but the airport ideally wouldn't always be vulnerable to the shifting tides and fortunes of any single airline.
“We're building a program for Delaware,” he said, “and building a program for our airport and for the region.”
That said, much in these terminal plans is contingent on federal infrastructure dollars — money the airport was twice denied in the years before Avelo arrived. For now, Williams said he’s not entertaining the possibility that no federal funds will come through.
“Third time’s the charm,” Williams said.
Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all the things that touch land and money: openings and closings, construction, and the many corporations who call the First State home. A longtime food writer, he also tends to turn up with stories about tacos, oysters and beer. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com.
