Akron-Canton Airport officials conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony this week to mark the completion of a $37 million project to renovate the boarding gates area.
The renovated gate area is the centerpiece of a $115 million airport improvement program that began in 2015.
All of the airport’s gates now feature jet bridges between the terminal and aircraft.
Until this year some passengers had to walk across the tarmac to board or disembark at gates that were built in 1962 for turboprop aircraft.
Airport CEO Ren Camacho acknowledged that the project might seem unnecessarily given how much commercial passenger traffic at the airport has fallen in recent years in general and during the COVID-19 pandemic in particular.
But Camacho said the project anticipates growth opportunities that he is optimistic eventually will come.
“This project positions the airport for many years of growth and prosperity while maintaining our convenient and relaxing experience for our travelers,” he said.
Akron-Canton has seen its passenger volume fall from 1.8 million in 2012 to 834,365 last year.
Some of that decline has been attributed to airlines shifting flights from Akron-Canton to Cleveland Hopkins Airport.
Southwest Airlines left Akron-Canton in 2017 while Allegiant and Frontier left around the same time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly hard on the airport with traffic falling from 39,480 in March to 3,288 in April.
Volume has since rebounded to 16,179 in September, the latest month for which figures are available.
As a reflection of the falling air traffic, Akron-Canton now has nine boarding gates whereas it once had 11.
However, Camacho said additional gates can be added if traffic were to significantly increase.
The new gate area is a two-story structure added to the south end of the terminal.
Among the amenities that have been added are increased seating capacity, charging stations, a business lounge, local artwork, kids’ play area, a room for children with sensory issues, a room for nursing mothers, a pet-relief area and improved WiFi connections.
A planned sit-down restaurant, though, remains in limbo due to the pandemic. Camacho said the restaurant may open by next summer.
In the meantime, Great Lakes Brewing, CAK Café, Royal Docks and Buckhead Grill have locations in the airport that are open and serving.
This past week saw Spirit Airlines resumes its seasonal service from Akron-Canton to Tampa and Fort Myers in Florida to supplement its existing flights to Orlando.
In mid December United Express plans to launch a daily roundtrip between Akron-Canton and Washington Dulles Airport.
That service had been set to launch last spring and replace flights to Newark but instead United dropped the Newark flights and delayed the inauguration of the Dulles flights.
United Express has yet to resume its flights to Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport and American Eagle has yet to revive service to New York (LaGuardia) and Washington (Reagan National)
But top of mind for airport officials is the continued suspension of Delta Air Line service to Atlanta.
Lisa Dalpiaz, the airport’s director of marketing and air service development, said Delta has told airport officials it wants to return to Akron-Canton but has not said when that might happen.
She said it likely will not occur until corporate business travel picks up. Delta suspended its flights to Akron-Canton last May.
“They [haven’t] pulled out and they haven’t discontinued service permanently,” Dalpiaz said.
Airport officials have proposed using a $1 million incentive fund created by Jobs Ohio and several local government units in an effort to lure Delta back to Akron-Canton.
In the meantime, Delta has removed its equipment from the airport, leading some to worry that the suspension might last a long time.
The carrier has been non-committal to resuming service to Akron-Canton, saying repeatedly it is monitoring air travel demand and rebuilding its network as demand rises.
Tags: airline service, airline service changes, airline service in Northeast Ohio, Akron-Canton Airport, American Eagle, Cleveland Hopkins Airport, Ren Camacho, Spirit Airlines, United Express
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