Pre-construction will soon begin on McKinney International Airport's commercial terminal project, according to starlocalmedia.com.
At its Feb. 18, 2025, meeting, the McKinney City Council approved a pre-construction contract with Swinerton Builders to build the McKinney National Airport (TKI) Commercial Terminal project. The terminal's expected cost is approximately $72 million.
Terminal design and budget alignment are under way, according to McKinney Facilities Construction Manager Patricia Jackson. Due to a pre-construction contract with Swinerton Builders with a 1.95 percent fee, the construction evaluations and testing will start ahead of schedule at "reasonable cost," she said.
"We are interested in getting the construction manager at risk into the design process as quickly as possible so that we can do that testing and constructability review," Jackson said. "We're working on terminal design right now."
Construction is expected to start by May, according to starlocalmedia.com.
The new 45,000-sq.ft. passenger terminal will house three gates, with the option to expand to five. The terminal will support four to 20 flights per day. By 2040, there's the potential to grow to 16 gates and 40 daily departures.
There will be six aircraft parking positions for general and commercial aviation; a 1,500-space parking lot; a dedicated de-icing pad; above-ground jet fuel tanks; and other supporting infrastructure, starlocalmedia.com reported.
The terminal will feature central concessions with food and beverage options, including quick-service choices.
A $1.7 million grant from the McKinney Economic Development Corp., with the possibility of an additional $22.4 million in grant funding, will help pay for the project. Most of the funding comes from a $30 million Transportation Infrastructure and Innovation Act loan, according to starlocalmedia.com.
The city has previously said it is "actively negotiating" with two airlines for passenger service. McKinney Mayor George Fuller told the McKinney Courier-Gazette that the city will soon announce the airline servicing TKI.
"As we continue to expand and improve our facilities and services on the east side, we are confident our airport will bring significant economic benefits, including increased job opportunities, new businesses and enhanced quality of life for our community," Ken Carley, director of McKinney National Airport, said in a news release.
As a general aviation airport, TKI was used for non-commercial flights for functions such as flight training, law enforcement and personal aircraft flights.
Initial plans project 200,000 passengers in the first year, as a commercial airport based on three daily departures. In five years, up to 1 million passengers could be served annually, starlocalmedia.com reported.
Fuller told starlocalmedia.com that the first commercial flights out of TKI could occur in mid-2026, connecting passengers to Orlando, Denver, Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles.
The airport's annual economic impact would be estimated at $1 billion, according to starlocalmedia.com.
