Mary Carr Mayle

July 26, 2007

Guests of the the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport's grand opening reception of the terminal expansion Wednesday mingle in the expanded area. Five gates have been added to the terminal. Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News

The Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport has a grand opening reception of the terminal expansion Wednesday. Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News
Norton Melaver, Chairman of the Savannah Airport Commission speaks during the grand opening reception of the terminal expansion Wednesday at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News
Gate 15 is part of the terminal expansion at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport on Wednesday. Hunter McRae/Savannah Morning News
(Photo: Savannah Morning News)

The Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport on Wednesday unveiled its $14.2 million terminal expansion, which adds five new gates and 10,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space to the 10-gate terminal built in 1994.

The expansion, which opens to the traveling public next week, is designed to accommodate area growth as well as the larger regional jets that are beginning to fly in to Savannah.

About 42 flights, carrying an average of 6,200 passengers, take off or arrive every day at Savannah/Hilton Head.

Boardings at the airport were at 93,510 last month, up 10 percent from June last year. At 94,977, arrivals were up nearly 12 percent over the previous year.

The airport passed the 1 million mark in both boardings and arrivals for the first time in 2005, then missed it by a fraction of a percent in 2006 as financially strapped airlines cut flights and downsized planes nationwide.

"But the demand has always been there," said airport Executive Director Patrick Graham. "And it's growing."

Now, as airlines are beginning to add new services and equipment - and the airport appears on track to reach 1 million again in 2007 - the new gates will allow Savannah to market that growing demand, said Robert Uhrich, director of air services development for Savannah/Hilton Head.

"This couldn't have come at a better time," he said. "We were at the point where we had no more available gate space.

"Part of trying to woo new airlines and new service is having the ability to accommodate their needs," Uhrich said. "You can't bring in a JetBlue or Southwest if you can't assure them they'll have the gate space they need."

Tthe airport is currently in what Uhrich describes as "intense talks" with American Airlines about bringing in a Savannah to Miami flight.

"And we're still talking to JetBlue, hoping something will happen on that next year," he said.

More gates also mean more room for current airlines.

"Say, for example, United wanted to add more daily flights," Uhrich said. "Right now, they're only operating out of one gate with little room to add more service.

"With five more gates coming online, we have options available to our current airlines that we didn't before."

Next week, US Air will occupy new gates 12 and 14, while Delta will take 11, 13 and 15. Gate 15, at the end of the terminal, has two jetways.

The expansion will also accommodate the newer and larger regional jets that are beginning to come in.

"We can actually handle two 50-seaters to a gate," Uhrich said. "But the 70- and 90-seat jets that are starting to come in need their own gates."

The importance of the expansion also will be felt in South Carolina, said John Vann, chairman of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.

Vann praised the airport commission for its "forward-looking regionalism" in planning an airport that could serve a two-state area.

"With 47 percent of travelers who come through here headed to Hilton Head, it's easy to see how important this facility is to the Lowcountry," he said.

Airport Commission Chairman Norton Melaver thanked Graham and his staff for their efforts during the two-year project.

"It's taken a lot of hard work to get to this day," he said.