Governor Kay Ivey announced on Thursday that she will be participating in Friday’s groundbreaking of the Mobile International Airport(BFM). Mobile plans to open the new airport in 2025. The new facility will cost an estimated $330 million and will be approximately 143,000 square feet, with five gates, eventually expanding to host 12.
The governor will be joined by U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, Mobile Airport Authority President Chris Curry, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, and Mobile Airport Authority Chairman Elliot Maisel.
The Mobile International Airport will be located on Mobile Bay within the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. Mobile International Airport (BFM) is the Gulf Coast’s newest airport terminal and is conveniently located off I-10. The airport is designed to serve as a gateway to the global market and the thriving economy across the entire Mobile Region. The airport will have facilities to accommodate tourists, persons flying in or out for business, as well as the transportation of cargo.
Economic developer Dr. Nicole Jones told Alabama Today, “This is a monumental achievement for transportation in south Alabama. The additional terminal and gates will make Mobile, AL, more competitive with other regional airports such as Gulfport, MS, and Pensacola, FL. Commercial airlines will have increased opportunities for growth in a facility closer to downtown Mobile, major industrial sites, the Port, and interstates. Ultimately the project will help us keep business here at home, which is exciting for the entire state of Alabama.”
“A feasibility study conducted in 2018 determined that it was both feasible and critical for the Mobile Airport Authority to move commercial air passenger service from the Mobile Regional Airport in west Mobile to the Mobile Downtown Airport in order to re-capture passenger traffic,” Airport Authority President Curry said. The reasoning in that study remains sound.”
The airport is conveniently located just minutes from Downtown Mobile, immediately off Interstate 10. A full-service FBO (Fixed Base Operation) will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, offering on-site aircraft maintenance and repair. Brookley is also home to Airbus’s passenger jet assembly facility. The Aeroplex at Brookley is a former military base.
“The Mobile Airport Authority, its Board of Directors and Staff, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and consulting experts Leigh Fisher, are developing a Master Plan which will support the aerospace and related industries at the Brookley Aeroplex, while also designing options, alternatives, and a process for a complete relocation of commercial air passenger service from Mobile Regional Airport to the Mobile Downtown Airport,” Curry explained. “The Master Plan will direct our efforts to more effectively serve the regional market, creating competitive service that delivers more options and cost savings for our customers. Improving service is critical to improving our opportunities for economic development, jobs, and quality of life into the future.”
A recent study suggested that moving the existing passenger air traffic from the Mobile Regional Airport to the new international airport being built at Brookley could take as much as five years and cost as much as $400 million.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
