NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville International Airport is breaking records all while under construction for their BNA Vision.
BNA Vision is a growth and expansion plan in the airport's continued effort to maintain Nashville International Airport as a world-class facility for the future of Nashville.
The first step of BNA Vision was expected to last 7 years, and the project is currently on-track, with numerous projects currently underway.
“There is a lot going on, actually $1.2 billion worth of work going on," Shannon Sumrall, spokesperson for Nashville International Airport said.
Currently a new garage is under construction, a new concourse is under construction, and many more projects are either underway or in the planning stages. All of this is going on while Nashville's popularity remains at an all-time high, so the airport is busier than ever before.
“Not only are we operating an airport and going through a major expansion project, we’re setting records," Sumrall said. “Just this past Sunday, we did over 32,000 people departing from the airport, which means another 32,000 arrived in through the airport, so if you put that into a comparison, that’s like emptying and filling Bridgestone Arena 3 times a day.”
The record for how many people are screened through TSA for departures is being broken month-in and month-out, and airport officials said they are receiving compliments along the way, even with construction going on.
“Our president likes to say, it’s like driving a car and trying to get the oil changed at the exact same time,” Sumrall explained, adding that they work to keep TSA wait times down and other parts of the airport experience the best they can by having all of the airport entities work together. “We work closely with all of our business partners, our airlines, TSA, to make sure that we’re properly staffed so we can handle whatever the numbers may be.”
Nashville International Airport experienced a 15% increase in passenger travel last year and is still the fastest growing airport in the country.
BNA Vision is expected to have it's first phase completed in 2023, with the newest garage opening in the Spring of 2020, and the new concourse with 6 new gates, new restaurants, and new shops opening in the Summer of 2020.
