Chattanooga Airport on Friday advised air travelers to begin arriving at least two hours early amid Transportation Security Administration upgrades to its screening equipment starting Monday.
The TSA screening area will be reduced to one lane from Tuesday through Thursday for the equipment upgrade, according to a statement from the airport.
Also, TSA will upgrade equipment again on Sept. 20-22, which could lead to similarly longer lines, the statement said.
Passengers can check their flight information prior to arriving to the airport at www.ChattAirport.com/flight-status.
In June, the airport launched a major passenger terminal expansion that will add new gates to board planes, bolster amenities for travelers and eventually enlarge the security checkpoint area.
"People will be surprised at the lift it will have," Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said at the time at a news conference, noting that the expansion also will boost the city's efforts to recruit more business.
The expansion, which will add 26,000 square feet and renovate 36,000 square feet, is the largest in over 30 years by size at Lovell Field, Terry Hart, the airport's chief executive, said at the news conference in the terminal.
The $28 million price tag makes the project the largest expansion ever to the terminal in terms of dollars, he said.
That 22-month project will offer three more gates behind the existing baggage claim area as airport officials try to attract more nonstop flights to cities such as Denver.
Also, a restaurant, bar and added restrooms will be built past the security checkpoint, which itself will see at least one more lane to speed passengers into the concourse to catch their flights, officials said.
Hart said 90% of the expansion cost will be covered by the Federal Aviation Administration or Lovell Field's existing passenger facility charge, a fee that is placed on each ticket. The airport will pay the remaining cost, he said.
Hart said in June that the airport was at about 80% of the passenger traffic it was seeing before the pandemic. He said he expects the airport will eventually surpass pre-pandemic numbers.
A down 2020 had ended six consecutive years of record boardings at the airport. In 2019, Chattanooga Airport had 554,050 passengers climb into commercial aircraft, which was up nearly 10% over 2018.
-- Compiled by Mike Pare
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