CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Douglas International Airport outlined a proposed $2.1 billion capital program tied to a new airline use and lease agreement that remains subject to City Council approval.
The proposed Airline Use and Lease Agreement would establish a new long-term business framework between the city-owned airport and its signatory carriers: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. Axios Charlotte reported the proposed lease would run for 10.5 years, with a possible five-year extension.
The associated CLT Beyond program would cover nearly a dozen projects across the terminal, airfield and airport campus. The airport’s official project list includes a new Concourse C expansion with additional gates, a passenger tunnel connecting the main terminal to the expanded concourse, international-arrivals renovations, airfield work needed for the fourth parallel runway and replacement or modernization of critical systems.
The program also includes planning and design for future international-gate facilities and an expanded terminal atrium. Those planning elements are not the same as completed construction authorizations, and the airport has not publicly assigned the full $2.1 billion among individual projects.
Axios reported that the new capital program is about four times larger than the roughly $460 million program associated with the previous agreement. Airport officials told City Council they were prepared to proceed with the new framework beginning Jan. 1, 2027, if it receives approval.
WFAE reported that the airlines have agreed to the $2.1 billion capital program and that the original timetable called for a City Council vote in two weeks. Axios reported that the vote timing remained unsettled after Mayor Rob Harrington vetoed a council motion that would have delayed the decision until late November.
The immediate North Carolina business consequence is a proposed $2.1 billion infrastructure framework for a major aviation hub and a new long-term operating and financial agreement with five airlines. The proposal is not yet a final City Council approval, and the available sources do not establish project-by-project construction awards, spending schedules or completion dates.