Passengers, Airlines to Benefit from 4th Runway
When the Airport’s fourth parallel runway opens in fall 2027, the benefits will have an immediate impact for passengers and airlines.
The new runway will provide a 20% to 25% increased capacity for arrivals and departures, more flight options, fewer delays, less time spent on the airfield for departures and landings and reduced aircraft fuel and emissions burned.
This enhanced airfield efficiency is estimated to create more than $13 billion of savings in aircraft operating costs and passenger time over a 30-year period.
“We continue to see increased operations and increased passenger growth,” said CLT’s Chief Infrastructure Officer Jack Christine. “We are well beyond the need for an additional runway to help deal with the volume of traffic that we have in Charlotte. The fourth parallel runway allows us to separate arrivals and departures on the center runways, which increases the capacity for the airfield overall and the airspace. An integral part of our continued growth is bringing the new runway online as part of the capital program.”
Last year, CLT oversaw 505,589 arrivals and departures and averages more than 1,500 a day. CLT is the seventh busiest airport in the world, according to the Airports Council International 2022 rankings.
The Airport broke ground June 9 on the 10,000-foot runway with over 100 attendees gathered on the airfield to celebrate the occasion. Event speakers were Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of N.C., CLT’s CEO Haley Gentry and American Airlines’ Chief Operating Officer David Seymour.
“Growth in Charlotte is good for everyone who relies on this airport including American, the customers we serve and our team members,” said Seymour at the runway’s groundbreaking event. “A new runway inherently means an increased capacity to meet our future demand. It means we can better serve our customers, and that's good for the city of Charlotte. That's good for this Airport, and it's good for this entire region.”
The $1.006 billion airfield project is one of three runways being built in the country. The last runway CLT commissioned was its third parallel runway (Runway 18R/36L) on Feb. 12, 2010.
The new runway will be built between the current 18R/36L and 18C/36C runways and will include two end-around taxiways. The South End-Around Taxiway project will require a one-mile relocation of West Boulevard between Piney Top Road and Byrum Drive.
The North End-Around Taxiway warranted the relocation of the Airport Overlook, a one-mile segment of Old Dowd Road and the construction of Airport Beacon Lane, which is adjacent to the Airport’s Long Term 1 parking lot.
These taxiways will improve safety, decrease congestion and provide continuous movement for aircraft, therefore, reducing their operating times and aircraft emissions.
Crews began clearing land last year. The final runway design will be completed in summer 2024. Paving will start in 2025. The entire project is scheduled to wrap up in 2027 with commissioning occurring in fall of that year.
The new runway primarily will be used for departures, while existing Runway 18C/36C will mainly handle arrivals. Runway 18R/36L will continue to be used for arrivals and Runway 18L/36R will receive both arrivals and departures.
The runway project will require seven million cubic yards of earth work and 600,000 cubic yards of concrete. Upon its opening, CLT will be one of eight airports in the country with at least four parallel runways in operation.