CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia International Yeager Airport unveiled its new logo and launched an ad campaign on Wednesday as part of its rebranding efforts.
The airport’s new name, a change from Yeager Airport, rolled out at the start of the year but the launch Wednesday marked a day airport officials have worked towards.
The new green and blue logo features the airport code — CRW — with a mountain range and a curved line touching the mountain and arching into the sky.
Airport officials told MetroNews they wanted to balance history with the vision for aviation in West Virginia in the logo including keeping the same colors. The previous logo featured Yeager Airport with two blue and green arrows pointing up.
“Our new logo acknowledges the Airport’s physical location and our state’s nickname, The Mountain State, as portrayed with imagery in the logo,” the airport explained in a release.
CRW, located in Charleston, said the curved line arches into the sky to define a flight path as the airport makes advances in aviation and education.
“Our new brand is indicative of the vision we have for CRW’s future as it encompasses our continued commitment to West Virginia,” Airport Director & CEO Nick Keller said in a release.
“As we accelerate the forward momentum, we realized our brand needed to evolve and match the responsibility we have to become the largest economic engine in the state.”
Keller told MetroNews following a board meeting Wednesday that it was important to him to put the airport code front and center with the primary logo. CRW has been the airport code since the facility opened in 1947 as Kanawha Airport.
“As people book airplane tickets, look at flights, CRW is the code you would use. We wanted to emphasize CRW and it’s also a shortened way to talk about the airport instead of saying the full name,” Keller said.
“I think once people see the logo, they get used to seeing CRW, they get used to using the term CRW, they will think of West Virginia International Yeager Airport.”
First Ops car to get wrapped with the new logo! pic.twitter.com/6KjkU0SldW
— West Virginia International Yeager Airport (@flycrw) February 23, 2022
Paige Withrow, Marketing Manager at CRW told MetroNews a marketing campaign launched statewide Wednesday that includes broadcast and print ads, with changes to the airport’s website and social media pages. She said other changes including billboards, signs and uniforms will come at a later date.
The advertisement campaign includes the tagline of “It Starts At Home.”
“It portrays who we are as mountaineers. It all starts here at home and that’s what we are trying to do, that’s our mission,” Withrow said.
CRW worked with Vela Agency out of Winston Salem, NC for help with rebranding.
The airport is set to open a US Customs facility in March which has been a driving force behind adding international to the name.