Indianapolis Gets Huge Airport Update
Monday, November 24th, 2008
Indianapolis does not have a new airport. But, after a significant amount of renovation and the addition of a new terminal, the airport is going ahead with a major PR campaign to bolster its image.
The addition is called the midfield terminal. It is not connected to any existing terminals and therefore requires its own infrastructure and amenities. The new terminal deals with the problem of overcrowding in the existing airport facilities. On busy days, the chaos would start in the parking lot, which had to turn passengers away because they lacked enough parking spaces. The new facility will easy traffic congestion and hopefully win over some people who were previously frustrated about they way the airport was run.
But that isn’t all. Indy’s airport authority saw a chance to improve in a business sense as well as in the eyes of the public. The midfield terminal has twice as much retail space as existing terminals. A main shopping area, dubbed Civic Plaza, will have nearly 25,000 square feet of retail space. The terminal will have 2 concourses, each with a significant amount of additional shop space.
So why the need for all the PR? You’d think that a major city like Indianapolis would have local and regional TV coverage of a new airport and that people would be buzzing about the improvements. Perhaps it’s timing. Air travel is at a low point in terms of passenger numbers. Or perhaps Indianans are just fed up with the way the airport has been run in the past and aren’t going to believe anything has improved until it has been tried and tested for a few years.
Indy’s Airport Authority claims that the midfield terminal is a huge step in the right direction. Whether it is enough of an improvement to help them overcome their past poor performances remains to be seen.