May 2025 | Carlton Proctor
Designed in the early 1990s for 1 million passengers annually, Pensacola International Airport (PNS) today is handling three times that number and growing at a brisk — and largely unsustainable — rate of 14% per year.
“Three million passengers and 14% growth — those are big numbers for an airport this size,” says Matt Coughlin, the airport’s director.
Mayor D.C. Reeves offers his perspective on the airport’s current congestion: “Three million passengers, that’s like putting the entire population of Pensacola through the airport every seven days.”
Reeves describes an upcoming terminal expansion project as a “vital investment” in fostering the growth of Pensacola’s regional business and tourist economies.
“Typically, airports shoot for around 3% or 4% annual growth, which is considered a good and sustainable rate. So, that kind of growth comes with a lot of challenges,” Coughlin adds.
To meet those challenges, Reeves and the Pensacola City Council have given the green light to a $100-million terminal expansion.
The proposed centerpiece of the project is a new concourse and enlarged security screening area. Design plans, funded by a total of $14 million in grants from the FAA, Florida Department of Transportation and City of Pensacola capital dollars, have been completed.
“When complete, the terminal project will give PNS passengers access to a new five-gate concourse, an expanded security checkpoint and baggage handling system, with additional ticketing space, concessions and a premium all-access lounge,” says Coughlin.
The design plans include significant input by airport staff and from local citizens during a recent public “town hall” meeting held at the airport.
With the design plans in hand, the biggest challenge ahead is securing financing for the terminal project.
“Obviously we’re going to leverage every financial source of funding that we can,” says Coughlin. “But at the end of the day, we are financially in a situation where we can build it. The city does have bonding capacity, and hopefully we can refine that $100-million price tag down.”
The tricky part of financing the project through a bond issue, says Coughlin, is keeping the airport’s Cost Per Enplanement (CPE) competitive with other similarsized airports along the Gulf Coast. The CPE is the average amount an airline pays per passenger who boards a plane at an airport. It’s a key metric used to evaluate an airport’s financial performance, growth and market strength.
“Every airport has its own unique CPE number from year to year,” says Coughlin. “So when we go to the bond market, I have an idea how much we can borrow and how that’s going to impact our CPE.”