Business View Magazine | October 2019

193 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019 Talbert & Bright Inc. congratulates Wilmington International Airport on their recent growth and wishes ILM continued success... TALBERT & BRIGHT E nginEEring & P lanning C onsultants 910.763.5350 / tbi@tbiilm.com Affiliated offices Wilmington, NC Charlotte, NC Richmond, VA Columbia, SC THE WI LMINGTON INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT rent and fees to cover operational costs, and we reinvest profits to improve the Airport facilities, runways, and taxiways,” she notes. “We do not get any funding from the county budget, either operating or capital.” The Airport’s current focus is an expansion of its terminal, estimated to cost $60 million, and funded through federal grants from the FAA, North Carolina state grants for aviation, and ILM’s own reserves. “We had a record year in 2018, serving 934,058 passengers with 12 percent growth.” Wilsey notes. “We’re tracking at 15 percent growth for the first half of 2019, and it appears we may break one million passengers for the first time. We are getting tight for gates and concession space in the passenger terminal. As a result, we have a three-phased project, to be done between now and 2023, to expand all areas of the terminal: gates, concessions, outbound baggage area, and the airline ticketing area.” In addition to growth in the passenger realm, Wilsey says that ILM is also interested in growing