Story by Katherine Skeldon
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia International Yeager Airport has a groundbreaking ceremony set for Tuesday on a project that officials say will enhance the airport’s general aviation area.
Groundbreaking for the General Aviation Apron Expansion project will start at 10:30 a.m.
CRW Director and CEO Dominque Ranieri said the work will include additional parking and a non-movement area for all of their general aviation community.
“If you have flown in or out of the private side of the airport in the last few months, you have probably seen that we are short on parking, especially with the activity at the Marshall University Bill Noe Flight School, so this project adds a bunch of additional pavement,” Ranieri said.
She said the project also include some storm retention and drainage improvements.
Up next at Yeager is a $60 million CRW Next Terminal Development Project.
After recently unveiling some mock-ups of Phase 2 of the terminal project, Raneiri said the project, which will include an $8 million local investment, will renovate and modernize the public sides of the airport including pre-security, the ticket lobby, the baggage claim area, and the entrance to the TSA checkpoint.
Raneiri said it’s an exciting project.
“New floors, new finishes, new mill work, but this is not just about the aesthetics, this is about improving the efficiency, and the customer experience, safety, and also, lowering the cost for our airline partners,” she said.
Raneiri said that by making the building more efficient and easier to maintain, their airline providers don’t have to pay as much to operate at CRW, which, in turn, encourages them to add additional services.
“An attractive airport is important to the air carriers as well because they care about their passenger experiences, so we are doing everything we can to be as attractive as possible to our air carriers,” she said.
This pre-security and baggage claim renovations portion of the project adds to the $12 million in active capital improvements currently underway at the airport, Ranieri said.
Eventually, the CRW Next project aims to expand four to five larger gates in the terminal to accommodate the larger planes they are seeing come in as the airport continues to grow.
Ranieri said phase 2 will go out to bid in the next couple of weeks and they are really hoping all of their local contractors will be excited to bid on this innovative project.
She said it’s funded by the FAA’s Airport Terminal Program (ATP) Grant aimed at enhancing passenger experience, and it’s a competitive grant.
“It’s 95-percent federally-funded, and like I said, these funds can’t be used for any other type of project, they’re dedicated to terminal improvement, so that is what we’re going forward with,” said Ranieri.
Ranieri said their goal is for construction on the terminal project to get underway by late this fall.