Opening New Doors – Here and Abroad

A new concourse, new restaurants, soon a new hotel. Nashville International Airport continues to expand and find new areas for growth.?

Yesterday, another new door was opened — literally — as a British Airways flight was the first to arrive into BNA’s new international arrivals facility. The new space comprises six gates specifically designated for international travel, along with new facilities for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

And with demand growing for more European flights from Nashville and talks beginning with the FAA about direct flights to Japan and other parts of Asia, Nashville International Airport is living up to its name.

According to the Nashville Business Journal, more than 400 passengers travel to Europe from Nashville every day, with approximately 200 on the nonstop British Airways flight and others connecting elsewhere in the United States. Nashville International Airport CEO Doug Kreulen pointed to London or Ireland as the final destination for roughly half of the passengers on the British Airways flight, with the other half typically connecting via London to other European destinations.?

Even with all this progress, more appears to be on the horizon. Kreulen recently pointed out that the success of British Airways’ daily flight from Music City has boosted the likelihood that BNA will add additional nonstop flights to Europe, and he has assigned a deputy to present Nashville’s case during next month’s Routes World conference in Istanbul.?

Kreulen pointed to Paris and Frankfurt as the top contenders, since he believes that they "align the best for the state of Tennessee, when looking at the investment coming from those countries." Frankfurt appears to have the slightly stronger case and also offers "a little more bang for the buck" as Europe's largest hub, with access to more than 300 destinations, Kreulen said.?

Flights between Nashville and Asia are also in consideration. A recent agreement between BNA and the Federal Aviation Administration outlined the roles of each party in an environmental analysis pertaining to the construction of a longer runway for such flights.?

While any construction and subsequent flight service to Asia will take a few years, the agreement signals a significant step forward. Japanese companies represent the state’s largest share of foreign employers, with roughly 200 companies — including Nissan and Bridgestone — employing approximately 55,000 employees. South Korea, a key home for the companies producing the batteries for electric vehicles, is also heavily investing in Tennessee for factories and additional resources. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Kreulen believes that the top two Asian destinations for nonstop flights from Nashville would be Tokyo (Japan) and Seoul (South Korea).?

Both the city of Nashville and BNA continue to expand rapidly, and the Nashville Stars embrace these expansions as additional signs of Nashville’s position as an essential piece of the global infrastructure.