New $70 Million Airport Expansion Set to Open in Bridgeport
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — One of North Central West Virginia’s largest transportation and economic development projects is preparing to open next week as the new passenger terminal at the North Central West Virginia Airport reaches the finish line.
The airport will open the new terminal to the community during a public open house Monday, Aug. 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Commercial airline operations will move into the new facility beginning Tuesday, Aug. 18.
The opening completes a yearslong, multi-phase airport expansion that has grown into an approximately $70 million project. The investment extends well beyond construction of the terminal building itself and includes major site preparation, apron and taxiway work, parking, baggage infrastructure, roadway improvements and other work needed to make the new terminal operational.
The new facility is roughly four times larger than the airport’s former passenger terminal and provides substantially more room for passengers, security, baggage handling and future growth. The previous terminal had served the region for decades.
But the significance of the project extends beyond air travel.
The massive site work required to build the terminal also created approximately 83 acres of flat, developable property around the airport, opening additional land for aerospace, aviation and other economic development opportunities.
That new land is now part of the airport’s broader Aerotech Park development strategy, providing additional space for future business recruitment and expansion around an airport campus that has already become one of West Virginia’s most significant aerospace clusters.
The project has been made possible through a combination of federal, state and local investment over several years, with each level of government playing a role in moving the terminal and surrounding infrastructure from planning to completion.
The State of West Virginia has remained a major partner in the airport’s continued development, supporting portions of the terminal project and other infrastructure improvements across the airport campus. Federal and local partners have also contributed to the long-term expansion.
The result is an airport campus that increasingly serves two purposes for North Central West Virginia: providing commercial air service for the region while also functioning as a major center for aerospace employment and future industrial development.
Harrison County already has one of West Virginia’s largest concentrations of aerospace employment, with major aviation and aerospace operations located around the airport. The new terminal and surrounding developable property are designed to give the region additional capacity to build on that existing industry.
After years of earthmoving, infrastructure work, construction and funding efforts, next week’s opening represents more than the replacement of an aging terminal.
It marks the completion of a roughly $70 million investment designed to position the North Central West Virginia Airport and the surrounding Bridgeport-Clarksburg region for its next phase of growth.
