HELENA — As you head on your next trip out of Helena, there could be some upcoming changes rolling into the airport.
“Looking at where we are at today and where we are going in the future, trying to plan the best way possible,” Jeff Wadekamper, the director of the Helena Regional Airport, says.
In 2024, the Helena Regional Airport saw a thirteen percent increase in passengers from the year prior, and with that, the airport is looking to expand facilities by adding two more gates, more concourse space, and baggage claims.
Wadekamper says, “No matter the growth, we will be positioned so that we can develop more quickly or more slowly depending on the success.”
The last airport master plan was created in 2016.
The Helena Regional Airport is working alongside engineers and architects to forecast what is next for the campus, specifically in operational and financial sustainability.
“The biggest goal of the airport master plan is really to set up the next twenty years of growth and development for the entire 1400-acre campus," Wadekamper says.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires master plans and provides funding for those expansion projects.
Mike Carlson is the aviation planner with Morrison Maierle and says, “These projects that we identify are tied to activity levels rather than necessarily years, so that incorporates some flexibility."
Airport leaders say one of the biggest questions from the public is will the airport get more flights and airlines.
Although air service is not a part of the plan, there are connections between the two.
Wadekamper says, “to get more air service, we are on a parallel track and have to make sure that we are planning the terminal facility, the airfield, and all supporting elements properly.”
