Airport Experience® News - ACDBE 2023

LATEST BUZZ

NEXT-LEVEL PROGRESS Record-High Passenger Levels Prompted SDF’s $800M Upgrade

BY SARAH BEL ING

oui svi l le Muhammad Al i International Airport (SDF) is in the midst of a massive

Af ter the SDF team completed concessions-related renovations in 2015 and 2016, they decided to take a holistic look at the airport’s growth, says SDF executive director Dan Mann. Even accounting for pandemic-related shutdowns, traveler numbers have expanded rapidly. “We’re shattering the previous all-time record from 2019,” says Mann, “and we’ll likely have more [Kentucky] Derby-related traffic than we’ve ever had before. We’re looking really good for 2023.” In anticipation of the area’s ever-expanding bourbon and Derby-related tourism - SDF has also added 18 new routes to its schedule since 2018 -

Above: As part of the SDF Next Program, the new Signature Louisville Project was unveiled in the pedestrian access tunnels to the rental car facility at SDF.

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transformation. The $800 million project, entitled SDF Next, is expected to be completed in 2025 and includes back-of house upgrades like the country’s largest airport geothermal system, a new airport operations and command center and expanded infrastructure capacity for the hub’s busy cargo sector. Customer-centric changes include an expanded parking lot, wayfinding areas, baggage claim, terminal upgrades, restrooms, exterior redesign, security checkpoints and ticketing centers.

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