Capital Region Airport Commission presents growth plan, new routes and multi‑million‑dollar projects at CVTA meeting

Perry Miller, a member of the Capital Region Airport Commission, and airport growth lead Martin Rubenstein told the Central Virginia Transportation Authority on March 27 that Richmond International Airport (RIC) has doubled its nonstop destinations since before the pandemic and is nearing 5 million annual passengers.

Rubenstein said the airport is averaging roughly 8.5% passenger growth annually and reported record cargo operations, driven in part by new regional industry demand. "We inaugurated our first flight to Puerto Rico," Rubenstein said, noting that the new three‑times‑weekly service should capture leisure travelers who previously routed via Miami. He added that RIC now serves about 30 nonstop destinations, up from roughly 21 at its pre‑pandemic peak.

The presenters framed their work around a new "POWER 2.0" strategic framework — passenger experience, operational excellence, workforce development, enterprise revenue and regional resilience — and tied near‑term capital spending to those priorities. "Every dollar we spend drives a metric that falls under one of these priorities," Miller said.

Airport staff emphasized the challenge of attracting long‑haul international service. Rubenstein explained airline risk calculations and passenger 'leakage' to competing hubs, saying that when travelers drive to larger airports their trips are counted there, not as Richmond originations. "When passengers drive from this region to Dallas and they fly out of there, they do not count as Richmond region passengers," he said, and estimated that about 75% of potential international passengers currently leak to other hubs.

Because Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policy limits the airport's ability to directly subsidize airlines, the airport team described a strategy that combines private contributions with state support in a minimum revenue guarantee to reduce airline risk. Rubenstein cited recent out‑of‑state precedents: Cleveland used a $12 million guarantee over two years for a Dublin route and Indianapolis used a $17 million guarantee, both funded via public‑private arrangements.

The presentation listed several capital projects the airport expects to advance: a new Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (AR) station to replace a 1980 facility (presenters estimated about $30 million), consolidation of the A/B security checkpoints into a single throat‑area checkpoint (initially 10 lanes, expandable to 14) to improve passenger flow and TSA efficiency, new concessions (including local offerings), and a parking guidance and license‑plate recognition system tied to reserve‑parking functionality.

Presenters also described a Buler Road relocation project intended to provide required access for the Virginia Army National Guard aviation facility and to enable development of 220 acres of commission‑owned industrial land contiguous with the airfield.

Board members and legislators praised the airport's customer experience and said they would assist with state and private‑sector outreach to support revenue guarantees and route development. Delegate Ray Cousins and others described personal trips that would have been simpler if nonstop transatlantic service were available.

The airport team said private pledges have reached seven‑figure totals so far and that reaching an eight‑figure pool — combined with state backing — would be the scale necessary to underwrite a high‑cost transatlantic route.

The presentation closed with a pledge to continue airline outreach and to return with more detailed proposals as state and private partners coalesce on potential guarantee structures.