Kenneth Austin is a student at Hampton University. He said he flies through Norfolk International Airport pretty often. His flight on Friday to San Diego was out of gate A11 — which didn’t exist the last time he flew.
Three new gates in Concourse A debuted Tuesday for American Airlines flights. New dining options opened, too. A Town Center Cold Pressed is serving coffee, juices and sandwiches.
“I was actually wondering if there was going to be a good food option after passing some stuff,” he said. “And then I was delighted to see a new place.”
Austin ordered a cookies-and-cream blended drink and a turkey and Swiss croissant while he waited to board.
Gates A10, A11 and A12 offer travelers a floor-to-ceiling view of the airfield. They’re the first gates to open in 20 years, said Mark Perryman, president and CEO of the Norfolk Airport Authority.
“We've actually closed gates as aircraft size has increased,” he said, adding that gates at Concourse B closed a while back to accommodate planes with wider wingspans.
The expanded Concourse A took a little more than a year to complete, Perryman said, and it’s not completely finished.
High Tide Bar Bites is another dining option for travelers that’s expected to open as soon as the liquor license comes through.
Bruce Smith’s 200 Sack Club – a bar and grill honoring its namesake Hall of Fame NFL player – will also open soon in Concourse B, according to a press release. Smith grew up in Norfolk and lives in Virginia Beach.
Perryman said the changes give travelers the airport experience they deserve.
“It makes them feel like we're a brand new, modern and efficient airport,” he said.
And that’s the goal of the ongoing billion-dollar improvement project, he added.
So far, the new gates in Concourse A cost $25 million. The new international arrivals facility that opened last month cost another $25 million, and roughly $50 million went to airfield improvements with the runway rehabilitation project, Perryman said.
These improvements come as the airport sets records for passenger traffic. Last June, July and August were the three busiest months ever in the airport’s 87-year history.
Flight offerings have also expanded lately. Direct flights to Cancún started in January as the first international flights out of Norfolk in decades. Nonstop flights to Puerto Rico also started this year. Airport officials are still discussing luring carriers for direct flights to Europe.
