A concrete milestone: Charlotte airport makes progress on $1B runway project

As air traffic over Charlotte’s airport continues to rise, CLT recently took a major step toward adding more runway space for pilots.

Construction crews at Charlotte Douglas International Airport placed the first lane of concrete for the $1 billion-plus Fourth Parallel Runway project, the airport announced Thursday on social media. With an opening scheduled for 2027, the new runway will allow for additional arrivals and departures.

CLT has an estimated 1,800 daily arrivals and departures, according to its website.

Charlotte airport officials broke ground on the 10,000-foot-long, 150-foot-wide runway in June 2023 to accommodate increasing traffic. The project was initially slated to launch in 2020 but was pushed back to 2023 due to the pandemic and delays in meeting environmental requirements.

After construction is complete, the runway project is expected to yield other benefits, such as a reduction in aircraft operating times, fuel consumption and emissions. Charlotte Douglas officials also expect the extra runway to cut wait time for passengers.

Charlotte Douglas officials did not immediately provide additional updates about construction.

The project is part of Destination CLT, a $4 billion initiative to upgrade the 82-year-old airport through projects such as the $608 million terminal lobby renovation completed in September.

The new project is next to the Taxiway Sierra and east of Charlotte Fire Station 41 on West Boulevard near Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Road. It will join three other parallel runways running in a north-south direction.

The Federal Aviation Administration committed $290 million towards the runway, according to a September 2024 announcement. Other sources of funding for the $1 billion-plus project are coming from bonds and passenger fees.

CLT’s new runway project was part of its 2016 master plan to address capacity and future demands at the airport, which is the sixth-busiest in the world. The project also features new taxiways at both the north and south ends, which allows aircraft to avoid crossing an existing runway.

A fifth parallel runway is possible on land east of the Air National Guard base, west of Billy Graham Parkway, according to Charlotte Douglas. But that project is likely decades away.

CLT airport to renumber runways

The airport’s Fourth Parallel Runway will be named 1C-19C.

CLT’s other three are: 18R-36L, 18C-36C, and 18L-36R. They will be renamed next year from May through September to comply with regulations through the FAA and for system-wide consistency, according to a July Charlotte airport announcement.

The numbers serve as a visual cue for pilots to ensure they are on the correct runway. While parallel runways are common at major airports, they present labeling challenges.

Since only three runways in the same direction can be labeled as left, center, or right, a fourth parallel runway required a new designation to avoid confusion for pilots and air traffic controllers.

Runway numbers are based on their direction through a compass-like system.

For example, north is 360 degrees, so a runway pointing north is called Runway 36. East is 90 degrees (Runway 9), south is 180 degrees (Runway 18), and west is 270 degrees (Runway 27). The number is rounded to the nearest 10 and shortened, so 190 degrees becomes Runway 19. Letters are added to tell parallel runways apart.

Renaming work involves painting new numbers which are 60 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Charlotte Douglas maintenance crews and contractors will update 120 physical markings and replace dozens of signs, according to the airport.