Good news for frequent West Palm Beach flyers
Changes are in the air for Palm Beach International Airport. Not only is the busy travel hub in West Palm Beach currently undergoing renovations, but Laura Beebe, the Palm Beach County Airports Director, has proposed some new changes that seek to alleviate congestion and ground delays during the airport’s busiest days of the year.
During a presentation to the Palm Beach City Council on May 13th, Beebe outlined plans to extend the airport’s south runway from around 3,200 feet to 8,000 feet long. This would allow the airport to use its north runway for departures and the south runway for arrivals. An additional runway that cuts diagonally across the airfield would also be shortened to prevent it from intersecting with the two longer east to west runways, according to Beebe. The estimated timeline for completion of the runway expansion project is anywhere from 10 to 12 years.
Without this expansion, Beebe told the council, PBI becomes a single-runway airport on its busiest days.
According to the Palm Beach Post, the airport first planned to expand the runway before the 2008 recession. The project was taken up again in 2016, but the 2020 pandemic once again put things on hold, as air traffic was expected to decline as people stayed home.
But what they got instead was an influx of people fleeing the pandemic restrictions in their home cities and migrating South. “We were one of the fastest-growing airports after COVID,” Beebe said.
Both private and commercial air traffic bounced back fast, and with the large number of people moving to the area permanently, routes that were formerly seasonal extended well into the summer months.
However, air traffic was also hampered by restrictions due to President Trump’s trips to his Mar-A-Lago resort. The President’s visits also come with an increase in private jet traffic by those who want to be in Palm Beach during the President’s visits.
Current Expansion Projects
Extending the runway isn’t the only expansion plan on the drawing board. Currently underway is renovation and expansion work on Concourse B, which includes building larger restrooms and adding around 3,000 square feet of restaurant space. This phase is almost complete, while a second phase is set to begin this fall. This second phase at Concourse B will add higher ceilings, more seating, a specialized suite for parents to feed infants, two new passenger loading bridges, and a sensory room for the neurodivergent, all totaling around 56,000 square feet of new space..
PBI will also play host to a number of new shops and restaurants, including Tropical Smoothie Café, Tequesta Brewing Co., and more. In fact, as part of Phase I of the expansion, a modernization program has already begun that adds upgrades to restrooms, holdrooms, and the addition of new restaurant space,
Plans are also in the works to consolidate the airport’s rental car facilities onto one piece of property located on the north side of Belvedere Road, near the Palm Beach Kennel Club. The current rental car space will open to redevelopment. Beebe told the Post that having all their rental car options in one place will allow the airport to run a single bus service to those facilities, allowing them to improve transit times and reduce costs.
This is all part of a big multi-year revitalization effort that includes upgrading ticket counters, elevators and escalators, and the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) facility, and the Parking Revenue Control Building, as well as updates to PBI’s electrical and support infrastructure. In June of 2023, the airport also did cleaning, maintenance and repair work on its Short-Term and Premium parking lots.
While the runway expansion is barely in the proposal stage, and other improvements are still ongoing, it is clear that Palm Beach International is planning for the future and reaching for the sky.
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