As a new terminal gets ready to open at the Pittsburgh International Airport, work has really taken off at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Westmoreland County with its new terminal.
Back in May, there was a slight delay in construction with the new terminal at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, but what a difference just a few months make.
Gabe Monzo, the executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, says that phase one is nearing three-fourths completion. And this new space will get rid of the current two-level terminal they have now and put everything on one floor. Plus, the new terminal will have more space for people and a bigger TSA screening area.
“You know, when you have an aircraft come in, there’s 170 on the aircraft, but you also have 170 people waiting to get on the aircraft,” said Monzo. “So now you have 400 people, 500 people walking around the terminal building and now we’ll have room for that.”
The new terminal building is roughly 32,000 square feet, with a price tag of around $22 million that Monzo says has been fully paid for through a variety of public funding that was amassed over the last 10 years.
Monzo says that their hope is to have this new building open to travelers in May or June of next year.
Currently, Spirit Airlines is the only carrier at Arnold Palmer with seasonal flights to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a regular daily flight to Orlando.
Monzo says that since Spirit arrived in 2011, the airport has really outgrown its current space, and a new terminal is much needed for the airport to stay competitive.
“Last time we did an expansion here or any construction here was 1998,” Monzo said. “So, yeah, it was due for an upgrade, and we have been very happy with the process.”
And again, while the first phase of this construction at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is set to be completed by the summer of 2026, all phases of construction will be completed sometime in 2027.