Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[rancenc]

Spirit Airlines adds another flight from Charlotte to Boston.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2023/04/25/spirit-airlines-clt-boston-logan-airport-travel.html

[CltFlyer]

Another slight update to the transatlantic schedule winter 2023/2024.  

Seasonal service Charlotte-Dublin is now scheduled to begin on March 5, 2024 next season.  moved up two months from the start date this year (which is May 5th).

https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230425-aanw23

This means that Charlotte Dublin next year will operate 8 months out of the year from March through October.  Perhaps this will be the next route to go year round?  It is the most logical given the One World presence in Dublin with Aer Lingus.

[CLT2014]

On 4/25/2023 at 8:31 PM, rancenc said:

Spirit Airlines adds another flight from Charlotte to Boston.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2023/04/25/spirit-airlines-clt-boston-logan-airport-travel.html

Spirit is going to be at ~14 daily flights. They are already sometimes using common use gate A22 (jetBlue also uses it) in addition to their leased gate, A29. I suspect Spirit might actually be interested in further expansion at CLT, but is going to be running into gate space constraint in A-North where United controls 4 gates to run just 15 daily flights, Frontier has 1 gate, Southwest has 2 gates... leaving A22 as a common use gate shared with jetBlue for Spirit to leverage. 

Other than that.... there isn't really much gate space for other airlines to expand. Sun Country is going out of common use A10 that is shared with American, but they can't scale much more than 1 - 2 flights with how heavily AA leverages gates. 

I know Avelo and Breeze have expanded at RDU... but not sure where they could go at CLT until the new concourse is built. A-North-North. One option would be for CLT to negotiate with United to give up use of a gate and one of the Southwest gates to become common use. Asking AA to give up gates is likely a non-starter given their control / influence. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by CLT2014

[thenewkage95]

What are the chances of CLT having another terminal built? I know they’re about at capacity as far as expanding the current concourses. How does construction at CLT compare to other airports of relative or larger size/capacity?

[Reverie39]

Last I heard there were long term plans for an island terminal to be built south of the current concourses. I imagine that is decades in the future though.

[xapostrophe]

All of this was in the destination CLT website but it seems it's all gone  sadly.

[CltFlyer]

London International Airport in London, Ontario has been "transformed" into Charlotte Douglas for the filming of an unnamed upcoming movie!  It looks like it will be a holiday themed movie.

https://london.ctvnews.ca/london-international-airport-transformed-for-film-production-1.6371102

[TCLT]

On 4/28/2023 at 12:18 PM, xapostrophe said:

All of this was in the destination CLT website but it seems it's all gone  sadly.

On 4/28/2023 at 12:07 PM, Reverie39 said:

Last I heard there were long term plans for an island terminal to be built south of the current concourses. I imagine that is decades in the future though.

Destination CLT site still exists. It shows the concourse B and C extensions, but they no longer have any timeline associated with them. The last published document I remember seeing actually showing the satellite concourse is the Airport Commercial Development Strategy which is several years old now and which oddly doesn't show the concourse B and C extensions. The Environmental Assessment (EA) from 2021 for the fourth parallel runway and associated capacity expansion plans does show the concourse B and C extensions and shows ramp and APM work that would support a future satellite concourse. So it appears the concourse is still planned but is at minimum beyond the 2028 timeline covered by this EA.

Edited April 29, 2023 by TCLT
updated EA appendix link

[LKN704]

This was the master plan a couple years back:

 

If one does a search on this forum using the keywords "hammerhead" (for the hammerhead satellite terminal) or "stinger" (for the extensions onto the B/C concourses) you can find a cornucopia of posts about the extensions.   

On 4/26/2023 at 1:07 AM, CltFlyer said:

Perhaps this will be the next route to go year round?  It is the most logical given the One World presence in Dublin with Aer Lingus.

FWIW, I would wager that the extension is more about bringing Americans to Ireland than connections in Dublin. 

Aer Lingus' (which isn't a One World member) hub in Dublin is tiny and mostly built around flights to/from the UK.  Their flights from Dublin to continental Europe aren't timed for transatlantic connections (outside of a few exceptions)...their first bank of European departures leaves just as flights from the US arrive and the second bank of departures doesn't leave until 3 PM local time...so someone connecting from the US would have a nice eight-hour layover.  The same principle applies in the inverse, flights from continental Europe to Dublin often arrive after flights to the US have already departed. 

Some cities, even somewhat major ones, like Prague, aren't even served daily. 

 

Edited April 29, 2023 by LKN704

[JRCLT]

From Ledger:

“So far, the city council has approved about $165 million in spending for the runway. It’s expected to open in 2027. Gentry said the fourth runway would help reduce delays, allowing planes to get more quickly to airport gates and reduce the use of fuel and airline crew time.”

Well, now it’s started.

[KJHburg]

Once this new 4th parallel runway is completed it will allow 3 simultaneous landings and takeoffs correct and with a 4th plane ready to go correct?  I know ATL airport has this but what others in the southeast if any?   

[CLT2014]

The fourth runway is going to be clutch in summer thunderstorm season when everything goes to hell when a storm is in the flight path. It will give air traffic control much more capacity to get planes that are in holding patterns on the ground to restore operations more quickly.  

[Reverie39]

On 4/29/2023 at 10:59 AM, LKN704 said:

This was the master plan a couple years back:

 

Of the gates shown in this map, which ones now exist or will soon exist? Obviously the island terminal is not a thing yet, but not sure what else is in the immediate plans for the future? The main terminal has several more gates in this diagram than I currently see on Google Earth, though I'm not sure how old that imagery is. And while I have been through the airport several times I don't have a great mental picture of it.

[LKN704]

5 hours ago, Reverie39 said:

Of the gates shown in this map, which ones now exist or will soon exist? Obviously the island terminal is not a thing yet, but not sure what else is in the immediate plans for the future? The main terminal has several more gates in this diagram than I currently see on Google Earth, though I'm not sure how old that imagery is. And while I have been through the airport several times I don't have a great mental picture of it.

The airport has a map available on its website that would likely be easier to see the current outline of the airport. Nothing on that rendering is currently built with the exception of the single A North pier (Gates A21-A29). 

The individual extensions onto Concourses B + C (the "stingers") are likely 5-10 years away from fruition. 

[tozmervo]

Came back through A last weekend and got to glimpse some of the baggage conveyors overhead over bag claim A. Thought that was kind of neat. 

[LKN704]

Overheard an interesting conversation at the Club at CHS the other night. Two guys (very loudly) were chatting over what appeared to be shop talk. I couldn't tell who they were specifically, but one of them (let's call him Man #1) was tied to David Neeleman somehow. I reviewed both JetBlue's/Azul's/Breeze's leadership team and didn't recognize his picture in any of their profiles. He didn't drink and had a BYU patch on his bag, so I would assume he was a member of the LDS Church (most of Neeleman's inner circle is LDS). 

Man #2 was asking him questions like "How is TAP doing?," "What are Azul's plans for the ATR?," "Have they looked at widebodies (I'm assuming in reference to JetBlue)?," and "How is Azul doing against LATAM?"

My ears perked up when I heard Man #2 ask "Have they looked at Charlotte?" He didn’t mention the airline, but I would imagine they were talking about Breeze. 

He mentioned how Charlotte didn't fit their model (which is obvious given that it is in no way underserved) but he also said something like "they have capacity issues." 

Obviously, this needs to all be taken with a grain of salt as it is essentially gossip, but I found it interesting to hear someone who obviously has connections to executives/upper-level management within the industry acknowledge Charlotte has infrastructure issues. It's odd to me, as A North seems to be significantly underutilized most of the day. I think a new entrant that wanted to start just a few flights a day would be easily accommodated. 

[eastsider]

Updates from today

[videtur quam contuor]

I will need the push chair and attendant to reach those gates. Not ashamed.

[KJHburg]

^ the canopy is looking great out front.  Here are some photos CLT posted on their social media yesterday of the new 10 gate expansion to Concourse A

 

[QCxpat]

38 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

^ the canopy is looking great out front.  Here are some photos CLT posted on their social media yesterday of the new 10 gate expansion to Concourse A

 

Great catch @KJHburg  It's no wonder the Airports Council International recently ranked Charlotte Douglas the 7th busiest airport worldwide for arrivals and departures. 

According to reporting by WFAE 90.7, Charlotte's NPR news source, "Last year alone, CLT handled 505,589 flight arrivals and departures.  CLT served over 48M passengers last year, up 10% from 2021."

"Here are the top 10 airports by takeoffs and landings in 2022:

1.  Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (724,145)
2.  Chicago O’Hare International Airport (711,561)
3.  Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (656,676)
4.  Denver International Airport (607,786)
5.  Harry Reid International Airport (581,116)
6.  Los Angeles International Airport (556,913)
7.  Charlotte Douglas International Airport (505,589)
8.  Miami International Airport (458,478)
9.  John F Kennedy International Airport (448,847)
10. Istanbul Airport (425,890)"

"According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, CLT contributed $32 billion dollars to the state's economy in 2021."  "As the airport continues to draw more passengers, CLT will continue its “Destination CLT” project through 2035.  Next month construction will begin on the fourth parallel runway, which is scheduled to be completed by 2027."

Links:   https://www.wfae.org/charlotte-area/2023-05-31/charlotte-named-the-7th-busiest-airport-in-the-world

https://www.wcnc.com/video/news/charlotte-douglas-ranked-as-7th-busiest-airport-in-the-world/275-8fdcd941-3c6b-4b54-b8e0-b43b34f26ac2

Image - WFAE Charlotte 90.7

Edited June 4, 2023 by QCxpat

[LKN704]

2 hours ago, videtur quam contuor said:

I will need the push chair and attendant to reach those gates. Not ashamed.

If my calculations are correct using the My Maps feature on Google, the walk from Phase II to the Landside Terminal will be approximately 2,420 feet or around .45 miles. Definitely a bit of a stroll. 

[KJHburg]

8 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

If my calculations are correct using the My Maps feature on Google, the walk from Phase II to the Landside Terminal will be approximately 2,420 feet or around .45 miles. Definitely a bit of a stroll. 

there are several sets of moving sidewalks in between though to make it easier.  

[nicholas]

5 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

If my calculations are correct using the My Maps feature on Google, the walk from Phase II to the Landside Terminal will be approximately 2,420 feet or around .45 miles. Definitely a bit of a stroll. 

I couldn't believe how far of a walk I had to make through CLT to catch my flight to San Juan.  The airline I was flying had their name at Zone A so I entered there, only to find that the sole open security checkpoint was past Zone E.  Made the walk and got through security, then had to turn and walk all the way back and around and up to gate A29.  Just under 3/4 of a mile by my rough estimate.

[11 HouseBZ]

18 hours ago, QCxpat said:

Next month construction will begin on the fourth parallel runway, which is scheduled to be completed by 2027."

I passed by this morning on Steele Creek/ West Blvd/ Hwy 160 and can confirm that they've begun with clearing trees for the new runway.

[videtur quam contuor]

How will this affect airport passenger capacity?