A future terminal expansion could add four to five passenger boarding bridges and nearly double the airport’s gate count from 12 to 22, supporting up to 4.5 million travelers annually.
Currently, one gate door is used to board three aircraft, a setup Sprague said creates significant operational inefficiencies.
“An ultra-low-cost carrier aircraft should be able to come in, offload, and reload in 40 minutes,” Sprague said. “Because of our inefficiencies, it takes 60 to 120 minutes to turn that aircraft around.”
While Allegiant remains the airport’s leading airline, BermudAir will begin offering seasonal nonstop flights to Turks and Caicos, Belize, and Anguilla in December.
Sun Country, which is owned by Allegiant Air, also offers direct service to Minneapolis.
“In order to bring a new airline that can sustain growth, we need to modernize the terminal first,” Sprague said, responding to commissioners’ comments regarding efforts to attract additional airlines. “We need to fix all our inefficiencies in order for the current terminal to be much more easily accessible and customer-friendly.”