How $23M in federal funding will fuel Charleston International Airport’s next big project

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Thanks to a $23 million federal funding allotment spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Charleston International Airport is moving forward with plans to add a new six-gate concourse.

“This is the first real shot in the arm that gets us rolling,” said Elliott Summey, the airport’s executive director and CEO. The money will fund constructing an overnight plane parking area, called a parking apron, and is the first step to support the new concourse.

“We have to build enabling projects and airfield projects that open the way for us to start building and expanding the new concourse,” Summey said. “This (funding) gets that rolling.”

Graham made the funding request for an airport apron to the Senate Appropriations Committee, in which he is a member, in order to support South Carolina’s largest airport. The airport currently has 18 total gates in two concourses. More than 6 million passengers came through the terminal last year, Summey said.

“Currently, we have a $4.5 billion economic impact on the state. Bringing on six (new) gates is a large increase in capacity for us where we’re going to be doing upwards of 8 (million) to 9 million passengers a year and it will multiply our economic impact,” Summey said.

According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations website, Graham originally requested $25 million for the airport’s new apron. The $23 million officially awarded to the Charleston County Aviation Authority, the board that oversees the airport, is one of the largest earmarks for an airport in the U.S. this fiscal year through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The money is available now, Summey said.

An increase in nonstop flights

The aim for the new concourse is to continue to add nonstop routes that transport business fliers more quickly, directly and more inexpensively to and from Charleston. The Charleston International Airport has been recruiting air carriers to offer nonstop flights from Charleston to areas that serve the area’s employers, including Boeing and Mercedes. The airport added a daily nonstop flight to Toronto with Air Canada that started service in April 2024.

“The increase in nonstop destinations has gone from 22 to 69 (flights) in 3.5 years and we’ve added five more airlines to our portfolio,” Summey said. “We’re adding more flights to JFK (in New York), we’re adding more flights to Boston, we’re adding more flights to Newark, we’re adding more flights to Philadelphia. At the same time, we’re also using our low-cost carriers to go to after places like White Plains, Islip, Akron, Milwaukee and Kansas City—places where there’s a lot of industry and where our industry folks can go back and forth.”

Related: Breeze Airways adds flight from Charleston to New England destination

Related: Breeze Airways to increase service from Charleston to California destination

Summey said the airport worked closely with the South Carolina Ports Authority and CEO Barbara Melvin on routes most-needed by ports staff.

“Why is LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) important? The port does a lot of business in Asia. LAX is a major hub,” Summey said. “We sat down with Barbara (Melvin) and said, ‘Tell us what airport is important to you,’” Summey said. “They said L.A. and we put an incentive program to go after (the route).”

Pre-COVID, the Charleston International Airport offered a direct flight to London and Summey said the airport is looking to restart that service and other nonstop flights abroad.

“Getting this funding with the help of Lindsey (Graham) and from (the U.S. Senate) will allow the Charleston Airport to expand the mission of economic development while allowing our residents and guests to benefit with more direct flights to more cities than ever before,” Summey said. “We’ve been working with Capitol Hill and the statehouse and we’re going to continue chasing money and try and leverage our own dollars with federal dollars and state dollars in order to take a fiscally-conservative approach on how we expand the airport.”

Other planned airport improvements

The airport’s approved master plan includes adding an additional parking garage and two-story rental car pavilion, a combined $300 million project, to be paid for with revenue bonds, Summey said. Summey said the airport hopes to break ground on the new parking garage in August 2024.

“Between the two garages in our parking lot, we have about 6,400 parking spaces on campus. IN the current surface lot A, we’re going to build a 6,500-stall parking garage—I’m told it will be the largest parking garage in South Carolina and will include two floors of rental cars, so we’ll be able to expand the offerings for rental cars,” Summey said. Inside the airport, plans include expanding the ticket counter area and revamping the terminal’s security checkpoint.

As these projects happen concurrently, Summey said he is grateful that elected officials like Lindsey Graham work to invest in the airport, which remains a major economic driver in both business and tourism.

“The citizens that we serve are not just in the Lowcountry anymore. Our ‘catchment’ radius goes from Columbia to Charleston, from Myrtle Beach to Savannah. A lot of people drive to Charleston every day to fly out because of the increased nonstop destinations,” Summey said. “We are very happy and excited and honored that Senator Graham has taken the time to understand how important the international terminal and the Aviation Authority is to the state of South Carolina.”