Its the beginning of a new era, five years in the making. And the first couple of flights have gone as smoothly as expected.
“Greetings and welcome to your new terminal. Obviously what a great day this is not only for the airport staff, the airlines and our tenants but for Grand Island. This is definitely a new era for airline travel at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport,” said Mike Olson, Executive Director.
Central Nebraska Regional Airport today showed off their newly finished 34,000 square foot terminal. Olson was jubilant about several of the state of the art amenities featured, including geo-thermal heated terrazzo floors throughout, with an effigy to the Platte River inlaid in the floor.
The new terminal also boasts the first ever jet bridge in Grand Island’s history. The restaurant, Afternooners, is one of only a few airport restaurants in the industry that can serve both the public side and the secure side from one restaurant. Olson added that one thing in particular stands out.
“Sustainability was one of the goals that I had for this building. Thinking about lead design and others environmental type of things where we can reuse our natural resources to help us save money and it’s a prudent thing to do. Central Nebraska is going to move that way and we’re going to push them that way,” he said.
Olson says a ribbon cutting will take place in April. And after setting a record with more than 64,000 passenger boardings last year, Olson projects they will eclipse that number by the end of 2016 by seeing more than 70,000 people.
He also wants to use this new facility to help grow the Grand Island area, and believes that if CNRA stays on this growth curve, they made need another expansion to the terminal in about five years.