ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) – Neither TSA nor Hurricane Helene quieted the booming progress made at the Asheville Regional Airport last year.
In spite of Hurricane Helene’s rage last September, Western North Carolina’s largest airport pressed forward on the construction of its new north concourse. In impressive fashion, the storm did not cause any delays in the planned summer 2025 opening of the airport’s expansion. More than two million passengers flew through Asheville in 2024, the second most in the airport’s history.
Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is the third busiest commercial airport in the state, serving passengers on Allegiant, American, Delta, JetBlue and United airlines with 27 nonstop flight paths from Miami to Las Vegas.
Logic dictates the airport should have suffered significantly from Hurricane Helene, but data the airport has recently released indicates otherwise.
“The numbers are in: Asheville Regional Airport posts a second year of historic growth,” reads the headline on the airport’s website. Posted on Feb. 6, 2025, the release outlines the airport’s successful 2024 progress in construction.
“Asheville Regional Airport celebrated its second consecutive year surpassing 2 million passengers, with 2,174,125 travelers in 2024, despite a 3% dip following storm-related disruptions,” the article states.
Before Helene demolished much of Western North Carolina, Asheville’s airport was on track to surpass its previous year’s record passenger growth.
“We knew the storm could affect passenger numbers,” said Lew Bleiweis, President and CEO.
Even though passenger numbers slightly decreased, work on the new concourse increased.
“Construction on the new concourse, set to open in 2025, remains on schedule,” explains the article.
“Our region’s travelers have been patient, and we are looking forward to this summer’s unveiling of the new north concourse,” said Bleiweis, relaying his belief that Asheville’s airport “can provide world-class service in a larger space, designed to accommodate our historic growth.”
The concourse is not the only thing that has been added recently. New nonstop flight paths were added in 2024 including to Orlando’s primary airport, the Orlando International Airport.