BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- The Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is growing to accommodate more passenger and cargo flights.
The airport will invest $100 million into capital improvement projects in the next few years. The biggest change coming to the airport's infrastructure is taxiway alpha. The main point of travel for planes at the airport will be relocated.
Airport officials said Tuesday the project will allow the airport to catch up with the growth Birmingham has seen in recent years
“If you fly out of Birmingham, you are most likely going to be on taxiway alpha,” said Marcelo Lima, the Birmingham Airport Authority's vice president of planning and development. “We're an airport. We have to get people safely on the ground and safely to terminal buildings.”
The relocation of the taxiway will allow for the airport to continue growing.
“We also have to continued cargo growth, and especially those cargo aircraft are heavier," Lima said. "They're bigger, and so our infrastructure has to be able to support that, and this relocation for taxiway alpha is a big piece of that.”
Don Mallory is a frequent flyer in and out of Birmingham. He doesn’t live in the city but comes to the Magic City often on business.
“It’s a great thing that it is growing," Mallory said. "I think it's great for everyone in the Birmingham area."
Mallory hopes the improvement projects will include adding more flights in and out of the Magic City.
Next month, Spirit Airlines will start service out of Birmingham. Lima said the project is taking that into account.
"Right now, with all the growth that we've been seeing, we're trying to catch up a little bit," Lima said. "But then beyond that, we want to be able to have a facility that'll be able to accommodate a lot of new events. A lot of new things coming.”
Major construction at the airport is still a few years away. Lima said that planning is underway to ensure that while work is being completed, no flights will be impacted.