NORFOLK, Va. — International travel is about to get a lot easier at Norfolk International Airport (ORF).
Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander, Congressman Bobby Scott, and Airport officials broke ground on a billion-dollar project. This includes the construction of a new U.S. Customs Inspection Facility, an on-site hotel and a major expansion to Concourse A that will include three new airport gates.
It's the first major upgrade to come to Norfolk International Airport since 1999.
"As both the Mayor of Norfolk and as a person, I am very excited to see this project come along," said Kenny Alexander. "Norfolk and the rest of Hampton Roads is a destination, now we have even more means to support that."
The expansion comes at a critical time for ORF, as the airport has routinely broken records in the amount of people going to the airport.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, ORF ranked 35th in the nation in terms of percentage growth from 2019 to 2022.
CEO and President of Norfolk Airport Authority, Mark Perryman, said the numbers are only expected to go up.
"We are now 18 months in a row recording breaking month over month over month, which is unprecedented in this country," said Perryman. "We are now up 10% over last year at the same time, and we expect to service around 5.1 million people by the end of this year."
The billion-dollar improvement project has a specific focus on improving international flights.
Perryman said the new U.S Customs Inspection Facility will work with international carriers to bring more flights to Hampton Roads. This includes flights to the Caribbean area, like Cancun and Montego Bay.
There is also hope to soon extend this to European cities.
"Where in Europe, we are not quite sure yet. How often? It will probably be 2-3 times a week at most to start until we build up that demand," said Perryman.
Along with improvements to international travel, there will also be improvements made in parking and to existing terminals. Airport executives plan to re-install moving walkways in the airport's Sky Bridges.
Construction on the moving walkways is expected to start in September. Construction on the U.S. Customs Facility is expected to start by 2025 and is anticipated to be completed by 2027.