Aging SF airport terminal set for expansion
$21.5M renovation will double the building’s size but keep its ‘quaintness’
SANTA FE — Anyone who has flown out of the Santa Fe Regional Airport knows that departing and arriving travelers are crammed just a few feet apart in the narrow terminal lobby in a building that dates from 1957.
That is on the verge of changing as a $21.5 million expansion will double the terminal size from 7,000 to 14,000 square feet and expand the parking lot.
Passenger totals at the airport have almost doubled since 2017, going from about 93,000 that year to 175,000 in 2019, before the pandemic took the numbers down, said airport manager Mark Baca. There were 100,000 for 2021, he said. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down.”
“Our enplanements have gone up so much over the last four or five years,” Baca said. “Over the years we have grown but the building hasn’t.”
When flights from American and United Airlines — the two airlines providing commercial service to the city — arrive simultaneously or there are delays “the line down the center (of the terminal) gets packed, there’s not room for people to move around,” Baca said.
Rental car agencies line one side of the terminal lobby while opposite and only a few feet away are the airline checkin counters.
The expansion will be to the south side where the airport’s administrative offices are currently located in a trailer. The expansion will include a bigger security screening and waiting area for departing passengers.
The idea is to make the airport more user-friendly for flyers. While envisioning the airport of the future they are also “keeping the quaintness” of the building designed by famed Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem, Baca said.
The size of the baggage claim area will be doubled and there will be a small gift shop and cafe inside the new secure area. The current vending machines will be a thing of the past.
Much of the current parking lot is gravel and about half of the $21.5 million for the project will go toward paving and expanding the lot. The new parking area will include a solar carport with charging stations for electric vehicles.
Bradbury Stamm Construction of Albuquerque is the contractor and will break ground after a utility survey, currently underway, is completed. Construction is expected to take from 12 to 14 months, Baca said.
When this phase one project is completed plans will pivot to a phase two that envisions an additional terminal expansion to about 30,000 square feet, which would add a third boarding gate on the south side, more concessions and a sit-down restaurant. “And just overall better facilities for the waiting area,” said Baca.
The timing would depend on funding for the estimated $20 million project.
“We are looking at different avenues,” Baca said.
Currently American Airlines operates three daily flights to Dallas-Fort Worth and two to Phoenix while United Airlines offers two flights a day to Denver.
Baca hopes to keep the airport running as smoothly as possible during construction and asked for the public’s patience.
“We are really excited to see how it’s going to help us once we get this expansion done.”