The leadership brass at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport provided more details about the airport’s terminal modernization plans, also known as the Elevate CVG campaign.
Elevate CVG is a multi-year terminal redevelopment campaign that aims to boost operational efficiency, modernize facilities, and improve the customer-facing experience.
Concourses A and B have not undergone any major renovations since 2012. Construction was completed on both concourses in 1993.
CVG’s Chief Legal Officer Joe Huber, who oversees Elevate CVG, updated the Kenton County Airport Board on the campaign’s progress at the board’s last meeting on March 18.
“Joe has a background in construction and as some of you may remember, he helped us extensively with our concourse A renovation project ten years ago,” CVG CEO Candace McGraw said during the meeting.
Welcome Point reconfiguration
One of CVG’s priorities is to update what’s called the Welcome Pointe, which is the airport’s primary customer-facing area for offboarding passengers.
Additionally, CVG is installing new exit lane security technology designed to boost security and streamline passenger flow.
One key point Huber highlighted during his presentation was CVG’s desire for Welcome Pointe to be aesthetically pleasing, especially with artwork and displays that promote the Greater Cincinnati region.
“What we’re going to do is get the look and feel—a sense of place—as we do these things in the main terminal and a customer service building,” Huber said. We want that throughout the field and that they really represent this region as people arrive and leave.”
Train
Currently, two trains, also called automated people movers, housed in a tunnel move passengers to and from concourses A and B.
The tunnel was originally constructed in 1993. Huber said the airport wants to refurbish the trains and redesign the tunnel.
“I believe it’s time to take a look at that,” Huber said.
CVG has a design request for proposal pending on its procurement website. Bids are due on May 9.
Ticketing
Huber mentioned the need for CVG to build out the capacity of the ticketing counter and the customer service building. If completed, the expansion would allow for more standing room for customers standing in the ticket line.
‘We need to build out the ticketing and the customer service building,” Huber said. “That would obviously give us capacity, but it’s also enabling projects for remodeling both east and west ticketing and current ticketing.”
CVG is working with the Paslay Group, an airport development and strategy consultancy, to help with the ticketing counter reconfiguration. The consulting agency suggests moving the counters back 12.5 feet.
“What we’re trying to do is increase the space from the front door to the front of the counters,” Huber said. “That’ll actually help with accommodating newer technologies, especially when you start talking about the kiosk that the airlines want to put right in front of their ticketing counters.”
Huber said the airport would be working to minimize disruptions to the regular flow of business during reconfiguration.
“All of this is, again, subject to what we’re doing as evaluation now is what’s feasible, what’s constructible and, frankly, what we can afford,” he said.
Baggage system modernization
CVG is set to revamp its current baggage movement system. Last September, CVG entered into an agreement with Germany-based Beumer Corporation — a company that specializes in independent baggage carrier systems.
As part of the agreement, CVG will install a new independent baggage carrier system, hoping that it will reduce baggage jams.
“We believe that the ICS system is going to be helpful for both tracking and actually eliminating some of those jams,” Huber said.
In this system, a bag is loaded into a carrier, and it then travels in the carrier from check to its final destination. Upon arrival, the bag is discharged to the makeup area on a chute or carousel. The empty carrier is then sent back to a loading area near check-in.
Bags of all shapes and sizes can be fit into the uniform carriers. This way, airport workers no longer need to clear bag jams caused by baggage straps and unfavorable baggage shapes, according to the Buemer website.
Huber noted that CVG is currently working through the proposed layout with Beumer.
The project’s funding will come from the airport’s capital budget, general airport revenue bonds and passenger facility charges, CVG spokesperson Mindy Kershner told LINK nky last September.