Nashville's airport is raising its global profile with plans to connect the Music City directly to six European destinations, building on the success of a popular direct route to London established by British Airways in 2018. According to WKRN, the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority's new international terminal has eyes on Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy, as airport officials attend an upcoming world routes conference in Colombia to woo airlines with the prospect of profitable routes to and from Nashville.
With the opening of six new gates next month, the crew behind Nashville International Airport's latest expansion is gunning for a boost in European travel traffic, setting the stage for an uptick in transatlantic comings and goings at a terminal designed to echo the warmth and openness of Tennessee itself, outfitted with wood tones and an abundance of skylights. "We designed it to be warm and welcoming like Tennessee," Doug Kreulen, the airport's President & CEO, said in an interview with NewsChannel 5, amid a backdrop of a six-year multi-billion dollar expansion project ready to unveil its latest completed project September 27.
Despite a setback in discussions for a much-anticipated nonstop to Frankfurt, Nashville International isn't deterred, looking towards securing a nonstop route to Dublin as it competes with Raleigh's airport for the connection. "As soon as we win the second and third European destination, our prices are going to get a lot cheaper," Kreulen optimistically told the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board members, as noted in a report by Boston Business Journal. The airport's international wing, opened four months ago, is eager to make use of its new gates and cutting-edge underground customs area that can handle 800 passengers an hour.
With a record of 22 million passengers passing through its terminals last year, Nashville International Airport has rapidly climbed the ranks to become the fastest-growing airport in the country for the past two years, the recent expansion featuring a new International Arrivals Facility and Marketplace that is just a precursor to the impending opening of an on-site Hilton hotel, represents not just growth but a commitment to solidifying Nashville as a key node in the global travel network.
