Reno-Tahoe Airport Starts Major Expansion
NV – If you fly through Reno often, you will notice that the Biggest Little City’s airport is getting busier. Built in the 1980s, Reno-Tahoe International serves 12,000 travelers a day on average, and its age is beginning to show.
There’s not enough parking and the concourses are too small to accommodate today’s planes. The Reno-Tahoe International Airport, or RNO, is undergoing renovations to accommodate the increasing number of travelers coming through Northern Nevada. The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority has revealed its multiyear construction project, MoreRNO. The goal of this project is to enhance the passenger experience for those traveling through the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Over $1 billion will be invested in the MoreRNO construction project through 2028 which will focus on improving the ground transportation center, rental car area, parking lot expansion, and airport entrance and exit. The Airport Authority is pursuing every potential funding source available to support the MoreRNO plan, blending public-private projects, grants, federal funds received from the passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and other revenue streams to complete the multi-year renovation.
The first project has already kicked off which is bringing major expansion to the ticketing hall. These renovations will also feature touchless travel technology and new restrooms. The first phase will also improve wayfinding, queuing, and circulation for passengers.
In conjunction with the expansion to the Ticketing Hall, the airport will be improving the loop road that runs in front of the RNO terminal followed by a newly consolidated car rental facility and expanding its parking garage. The Airport Authority will also be constructing a public safety center; rebuilding and expanding its concourse; creating a new terminal entrance and exit and remodeling the terminal’s mezzanine.
The $225 million Ground Transportation Center is funded through private investment and secured through Customer Facility Charges (CFCs). It aims to improve the rental car, parking, taxi, and rideshare access to the airport baggage claim area for efficient exiting.
The Concourse Redevelopment phase hopes to bring the airport to present times, to accommodate larger aircraft and increased passenger demand. RNO expects to see a 40 percent increase in passenger travel over the next 40 years and so it is necessary to remodel the concourses that were originally built in 1980. Within this phase- which could start construction as soon as 2024- the Airport Authority plans to build a larger Customers and Border Protection (CBP) facility to be able to process 400 passengers per hour.
The Reno-Tahoe International Airport works with 13 airlines and three cargo airlines, acting as a hub for more than 130 daily arrivals and departures to more than 27 nonstop destinations. It acts as a gateway to Lake Tahoe and prides itself on its elevated level of customer service, safety, cleanliness, and friendly staff. It is the 62nd busiest airport in the United States and averages four million passengers coming in and out of its doors per year. Close to 2,600 people work at the airport, and it makes a $3.1 billion economic impact on the region.
For more information about the MoreRNO passenger-inspired construction project, visit www.moreRNO.com.