Lakeland airport working to meet growing foot traffic at airport

TAMPA, Fla. — It’s been a little over a year since passenger flights started back up at Lakeland Linder International Airport. Avelo airlines became the first passenger airline to take off from the airport in more than a decade. 

Airport officials say foot traffic has increased, and so has the need for future expansion.

What started off as one destination through Avelo Airlines has now expanded into 8 new destinations, and the Lakeland Linder International Airport says those additions won’t stop there.

Assistant Airport Director Adam Lunn said the airport has stayed busy since partnering with Avelo Airlines in June of last year.

“Overall, we’ve seen over 100,000 people processed in and out of the terminals since we began operations,” Lunn said.

Adding passenger flights to the terminal has also been a boost to the economy, bringing in an estimated $1.5 billion to the region.

Now they’re having to accommodate the growing demand.

“We’ve really tried to make sure that customer experience is highlighted here, as you can see this space is very limited and so as we’re going through our terminal area master plan, we’re looking at adding those three additional gates to the other side of this building,” Lunn said.

The terminal area master plan is a 20-year plan, which includes the addition of aircraft gates, parking, concession areas, and plans for a parallel runway.

“The runway is 7,400 feet long, and that’s due to the number of operations that we have here. We’re actually this year the 89th busiest airport in the United States right now,” he says.

With more people moving to Polk County, Lunn says they want to be able to serve the growing population and be connectors to surrounding airports.

“We are limited in our capacity, so we need to start building for the future,” he said.

Airport officials hope to create a space more families can travel to and from their destinations.

The plan is expected to be finalized later this month. It will then be submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval. After that, Lakeland airport can begin design of the terminal expansion.

The airport is also home to the NOAA Hurricane Hunters and to the annual Sun ‘n’ Fun Aerospace Expo.