Mobile Downtown Airport’s new name and $250M terminal renderings released

On Wednesday, April 6, the Mobile Downtown Airport, located in the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, officially changed its name to the Mobile International Airport, while also releasing renderings of a new terminal. Want to find out what prompted the name change and new multi million dollar terminal construction? Keep reading for all the details!

Million dollar makeover

On May 1, 2019 the Mobile International Airport opened its first terminal, welcoming in Frontier Airlines (which had departed from the Chicago O’Hare International Airport) as the first ever arriving flight. Since the grand opening, airlines such as American, Delta and United have joined the team.

The new name isn’t the only change—an additional $250M terminal is being added. For reference on how large this project is, the first terminal was approximately $8M.

Mobile Airport Authority President, Chris Curry, plans to complete the project debt-free and already has a large portion of the funding secured.

Beating out the competition

Curry shared the purpose of the makeover—to draw in and win over more of the local customers who normally choose competing airports outside of Mobile.

“We have so many international businesses located in the airport, that it was time to change the name, so that we could prepare appropriately for where we’re going to be in the next two years. There are several businesses located in international locations that are looking to relocate to the United States and more specifically, the Gulf Coast area. And so being an international airport was very important to them, they would not include Mobile in that conversation, unless the name was changed appropriately.”

– Chris Curry, Mobile International Airport, Airport Authority

Renderings were released April 6, showcasing the 12 gates that will eventually be added. The airport will start with five, then as needed, continue to expand, maxing out at 12. The new terminal will include features such as concessions and rental cars.

Timeline

Vertical construction set to begin by the end of this year, aiming to have the terminal open and running by September of 2024. Once the project is completed, there will be widespread access to other facilities.

“We have freight, cargo and corporate users that flying to the airport on a daily basis that cannot fly directly into the airport, because we do not have an immigration and customs facility to process them. So therefore, it’s inconvenient for them to fly to a port of entry before they get to Mobile. So the low hanging fruit for us is freight, cargo and corporate users initially, and then try to develop passenger international service at some later time.”

– Chris Curry, Mobile International Airport, Airport Authority

It will be so exciting to see our Mobile become a hub of international travel.

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