Airport Experience® News - Leadership Issue 2024

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DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR LARGE-HUB AIRPORTS

internal expertise on concessions, and we just thought that staying with the master concessionaire would be more risky,” Kreulen recalls. “We switched to a developer model because we wanted somebody to come in here that had experience running an entire program. “Fraport had the experience,” he continues. “We wanted a single point of contact. They were also willing to invest in BNA with a few dollars here and there.” It was challenging at the start, but the program has more than doubled in size since those early days of the BNA Vision project. “We started with 52 businesses inside the airport,” he continues. “All of them subsequently went out of business during the pandemic, and we’ve since then built 102 businesses inside the airport, replacing the old ones and adding fifty-plus more new ones.” The concessions program captures the “sense of place” that most airports are seeking these days. Kreulen credits his Board of Commissioners with pushing for the local flavor – in food, in music and in providing “southern hospitality” to travelers. “Before most of our concessions were national chains and now we’re 50% local and 50% national chains,” he notes.

Tom Morales, founder of Nashville’s TomKats Hospitality, has his own company’s concepts in the airport and also works as a representative for other local brands. He says he was wowed by Kreulen’s commitment to local flavor in the airport. “I think Doug really, really takes the community aspect of the airport personally – he really wanted it to reflect the local community and it shows in the airport,” he says. Further Expansion As BNA enjoys the new digs provided during the BNA Vision phase, another expansion is already underway. BNA’s New Horizon plan will cost an additional $1.5 billion and will be phased in over six years with an expected completion in late 2028. Plans call for the rebuilding of Concourse A and an extension to Concourse D. The upgrades will provide more gates and opportunities for concessions. Terminal roadway improvements and a baggage system upgrade are also part of New Horizon. And BNA isn’t stopping there. A new terminal is envisioned in the relatively near future, with construction starting in 2028, around the time that New Horizon is wrapping up.

Top: The $1.5 billion BNA Vision project brought expanded facilities and a unique sense of place to the Music City airport. Above: Concourse D was built during the BNA Vision program that wrapped up at the start of 2024. Under BNA New Horizon, the concourse will be expanded to accommodate anticipated growth.

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AX NEWS DECEMBER 2024 / JANUARY 2025