BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — The North Central West Virginia Airport officially opened its new terminal Monday after half a decade of work.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey, Airport Director Rick Rock and many others were on hand for the ribbon cutting Monday morning at the Bridgeport-based airport. The new $70 million, 53,000 square foot terminal, includes more than 500 parking spaces and new amenities to account for growth at the airport.
“It’s four times bigger than the one we’re operating on now, it’s right off (WV Route) 279 and has all your modern conveniences,” Rock said. “It’s well done, we had a great team to put it together, and I think that people will be happy with what they see, and hopefully it makes West Virginians proud.”
The terminal includes four dedicated commercial gates with upgraded security checkpoints. Inside the terminal, there are modern amenities and an escalator to guide people through the multi-story facility. The addition also includes improvements around Route 279 that will allow for increased accessibility for people traveling from both the northern and southern parts of the state.
“It’ll be right off 279, so it’s going to be easier for people who come from the north and the south,” said Rock. “A new traffic signal is in there, it’s a clean environment, the first flight will go to Dulles (an airport in Washington, D.C.), hopefully we’ll continue with our great customer service, and we’ll meet everybody’s expectations.”
Allegiant Airlines and SkyWest, a United Airlines affiliate, will operate at the new terminal with the expectation that more carriers could potentially move in over the next few years. The lower level of the existing terminal building will be converted into a fixed-base operator facility for private charter services while also serving West Virginia University Athletics flights.
“We have SkyWest and Allegiant, who are extremely excited to get started just for having the amenities to offer our passengers, it’s all about the passenger experience,” said Rock. “The ones we have are very excited, and the ones we’re trying to speak to and bring back are looking forward to it too.”
For Rock and other officials at the NCWV Airport, the opening of the new terminal is aimed at putting the airport in a position to continue to grow around the Bridgeport area. This will be followed by plans to develop a separate 10,000-square-foot aviation hangar in the next 12-18 months. With development also continuing around the 100-acre AeroTech business park with $600 million in potential economic impact, the new terminal could not have come at a better time.
“When we started this project, we could not expand any more with additional air carriers, it just wasn’t possible, so it creates the opportunity for that to happen,” said Rock. “A lot of private investment is going on around us, it creates opportunity for us.”