Lawton airport’s new passenger holding area unveiled Friday

Community members saw something Friday that airplane passengers won’t get to use until month’s end.

Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport held a grand opening for its new secured passenger holding area, the major component of the $15.3 million airport terminal renovation project that Herring Construction launched in early 2023. The Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce’s Redcoat Ambassadors were on hand to officially cut the ribbon on the new area, which will hold twice as many passengers as the old 60-passenger holding area. It also offers large windows that provide an unrestricted view of the Wichita Mountains while passengers wait for their aircraft.

A second item also was part of the grand reveal: a covered walkway that will allow passengers to walk from the boarding area to the aircraft and back again without going outside on the tarmac as they do now.

Airport Director Barbara McNally said passengers are expected to begin using the holding area and the walkway on June 25, after the last components of the TSA security screening area are put into place. The new area will feature a larger area for TSA screeners to handle passengers who are getting read to board aircraft, a larger holding area for passengers to wait with vending machines and restrooms, and separate corridors for those boarding the plane and passengers leaving it. The departure corridor features security features such as doors that lock behind passengers, ensuring they cannot re-enter the area once they have passed through them.

McNally said the new holding area “has been 13 years in the planning.” McNally has been especially anxious about seeing the completion of the holding area, which had not been updated for decades. She had pictures on display Friday, showing the airport’s passenger area evolution through the years, including a time when the holding area was open to passengers and the general public.

“It’s quite a modernization,” said Mayor Stan Booker.

As completion is finalized for the holding area, work will ramp up on the final stage of the terminal modernization project: renovation of the ticket counter area and the TSA baggage screening area, as well as modernization of the terminal’s entrance. That work is to begin by July and is expected to last a year, said Larry Adair with Herring Construction.