Key West International Airport Expansion Project

BY MAGGIE OLIVE KLEIN
KONKLIFE STAFF WRITER AND EDITOR 

This week marks the start of construction at Key West International Airport, which consists of a $100 million concourse terminal expansion program. The 48,000-square-feet second level Concourse A project will provide the airport with several aspects to improve the level of service for passengers and tenants, something that I think we can all agree is overdue for the airport. The Concourse A terminal expansion is set to take two and a half years to complete and will improve the airport’s service and operations. 

The expansion is necessary to accommodate the increase in passengers. The airport is underserving passengers, according to officials. The airport is having an exceptional year when it comes to passenger counts. Ever since the beginning of the year, over 925,440 passengers have traveled through the Key West Airport. 

The project will include seven passenger boarding jet bridges, an expanded security checkpoint including an area to support as much as four lanes, additional baggage areas and devices and airline ramp, office spaces, and an extended passenger bridge which will be located after security, connecting the existing terminal building with the new concourse. 

A resolution was approved by county commissioners on August 17th to use $39 million in airport revenue bonds to finance costs. The revenues derived from the airport operations will be used to secure payment of the principal and interest on bonds. Besides the $39 million bond, $61 million is coming from state and federal grant money. No local property tax dollars are being used to fund the project, according to the Director of Airports Richard Strickland. State and local officials gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony, including Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi and Richard Strickland. 

Originally, the cost of the project was estimated at about $90 million, but the price has risen by at least $10 million due to inflation, rising fuel, and construction costs. The county cut some art and other embellishments from the Key West International Airport concourse expansion plan due to the rise in construction prices. Strickland and his team also began some value engineering on the project to reduce costs. They have removed a $1.4 million virtual coral reef seascape, as well as a $1 million terrazzo floor, a $1 million administrative walk-over bridge, and a $500,000 piece of artwork. There are also other details that were planned for the security checkpoint that have been removed. The county is planning to include them in the design just in case some money is found for the funding of them. 

The construction officially began on Wednesday, November 2nd, and is expected to be completed by early summer 2025.

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