CLEVELAND — The city of Cleveland has announced that it has hired Florida-based RS&H to come up a master plan for the long-term future of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The $4.5 million dollar plan is expected to be completed by early 2021. It will include airfield planning, terminal planning, landslide planning, facilities, and environmental considerations.
“As we look to the future of our airport, it is important to have a forward-looking plan on how to best serve the stakeholders that utilized the airport,” said Airport Director Robert Kennedy in a statement. “The new Master Plan will give us a road map of projects and improvements for years to come, given the dynamic changes the airport has undergone since 2014.”
The master plan comes at a time when Hopkins Airport is seeing a growth in the number of passengers coming into the terminal. The city says since CLE ceased being a hub airport in 2014, it has gone from roughly 65 percent Origin and Destination (O & D) traffic to 97 percent O & D, which has brought more than 3.6 million more passengers annually through the front door.
Despite the surge in the number of passengers, consumer satisfaction in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is still low, according to a recent study by J.D. Power. Hopkins scored the second-worst out of 17 "medium-sized" airports in North America. The terminal got a rating of just 755 out of 1,000, considered below average based on competition.
“The City of Cleveland is working to ensure that Cleveland Hopkins International Airport’s remains competitive in the industry and continues to grow in the number of flight options offered and passengers it serves,” said Mayor Frank G. Jackson in a statement. “This Master Plan process will identify investments that will make Hopkins a more modern, user-friendly airport to attract business flyers as well as leisure travelers.”