With a pair of large scissors, Charlotte airport officials celebrated on Wednesday the completion of the terminal lobby expansion by cutting yellow caution tape and orange barrier fencing instead of a traditional ribbon — a fitting choice for the occasion.

After all, passengers saw a lot of construction for the milestone project that took half a decade to complete at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. To improve one of the busiest airports in the world, CLT began making plans back in 2008.

Airport officials said this is the “crown jewel” of its Destination CLT initiative, a project to renovate and expand the facility. The total capital investment is $4 billion.

This project added 175,000 square feet of space and revitalized another 191,000 square feet to provide a modern, spacious lobby designed to improve the experience for passengers and to keep up with the airport’s growth.

Wednesday’s celebration comes ahead of the project being finished by Oct. 1, according to CLT.

How much did the CLT lobby project cost?

Charlotte Douglas spent $608 million on the lobby upgrade. The lobby opened on May 2, 1982. At that time, it was designed to serve 2.8 million passengers annually.

Today, the airport sees close to 60 million passengers each year, and 18 million (31% of total passengers) are using the lobby to get to arrivals and departures.

To improve the passenger experience, funding was made through a combination of passenger facility charge revenues, customer facility charge revenues, general airport revenue bonds and airport cash, according to CLT.

As a city enterprise fund, the airport is self-sustaining and does not collect tax dollars; airport revenue pays for all capital and operating costs.

What’s inside and outside the CLT terminal?

Passengers who haven’t been to the airport in a while can expect a lot of changes:

• Queens Court: A bright, welcoming center with the Queen Charlotte statue that greets millions of visitors.
• Improved roads: Redesigned roads make it easier to drive in and out of the airport.
• Canopy and skybridges: New structures provide shelter and connect different parts of the airport. Two pedestrian bridges link the mezzanine to the hourly deck, and two underground walkways allow travel from parking to the terminal.
• Underground walkways: Covered paths let you walk from parking to the terminal, protected from the weather.
• Faster security: Security areas are bigger and easier to get through. Charlotte Douglas consolidated five lettered Transportation Security Administration checkpoints into three numbered ones and increased lanes from 17 to 21, including 11 automated screening lanes.
• Better baggage claim: More space and a modern design make it easier to pick up luggage.
• Public art: Eleven new art pieces throughout the airport,  commissioned in partnership with the Arts & Science Council.
• More shops and food: New places to eat and shop before security are available, like Queen’s Kitchen and Dunkin’ Donuts.
• Updated look: New ceilings, floors, restrooms, signs, ticket counters, and an information desk made from an aircraft engine part.

How long did the CLT lobby changes take to build?

Charlotte’s City Council approved the construction contract in fall 2019. Construction was carried out by Holder-Edison Foard-R.J. Leeper, a joint venture, and Gresham Smith provided the architectural design.

A few months later, CLT held a ceremonial groundbreaking in December 2019, with construction starting that holiday season.

The Terminal Lobby Expansion project took five years to build. It involved more than 5 million man-hours, over 5,000 construction workers and more than 200 companies, according to airport figures.

Around 6,000 people were involved with the construction of the project, including airport staff, designers, program managers, and inspectors. Airport officals also noted that work stayed on schedule despite the pandemic.

The lobby project was the final development of a three-stage construction effort that started with the hourly parking deck, followed by an elevated roadway and terminal curb front.

The hourly deck debuted in 2015, which provided room to widen the roadway.

After it was completed in 2019, construction began on the lobby. The inner three lanes of the departures/ticketing level were used to support construction and opened to drivers in November 2024, according to the airport.

An airport “fit for the queen”

The center of the airport now features the Queen Charlotte statue, a well-known landmark since 1990.

Standing 16 feet tall, this bronze statue welcomes travelers in Queens Court, next to The Queen’s Kitchen — the airport’s first full-service restaurant outside security. The statue was moved for restoration in 2020 and returned to its new home in October 2023.

More on CLT

Charlotte Douglas is the sixth-busiest airport in the world for takeoffs and landings, according to preliminary rankings released in April by Airports Council International. The airport had 596,583 flights last year — an 11% increase from 2023, when it was ranked seventh internationally.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport 19th out of 21 North American airports in the mega category, according to J.D. Power’s 2025 North America Airport Satisfaction Study. CLT received a score of 581 out of 1,000 points for overall customer satisfaction among airports serving more than 33 million passengers annually.

CLT is the second-largest hub for American Airlines, which accounts for about 90% of all flights out of the airport. The airline provides flights to more than 170 destinations in 27 countries worldwide at CLT through its global network.

This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 1:05 PM.