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Orlando Melbourne International Nears Completion on Terminal Expansion And Upgrade as it Readies for Tourism, Business Travel Growth BY DAVID WARD
Above: Orlando Melbourne International Airport’s Terminal Upgrade Project also includes airfield improvements that enable the airport to accommodate wide-body international and domestic flights.
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A X NEWS WINTER 2022
ooking to improve the experience of business travelers as well as attract new international leisure traffic, Orlando Melbourne International Airport (MLB) is nearing completion of a $72 million terminal expansion and improvement project that will add 86,000 square feet of new space, along with plenty of new amenities, to the airport. Greg Donovan, MLB executive director, says the original terminal was built in 1989, and in recent years it became apparent the terminal was in need of a major upgrade to accommodate and attract future growth. Unlike many warm weather airports that primarily rely on tourism, MLB had a 50-50 split between business and leisure traffic before the pandemic, Donovan says,
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adding its location in the heart of Florida’s Space Coast has led many aerospace and aviation companies to establish operations on airport property. “The strong business market comes from our airport’s daily campus of 20,000, made up mostly of employees at major aerospace, defense and aircraft manufacturing companies,” he says. “In fact, we are the home to Northrop Grumman’s campus responsible for the design and engineering of the next generation B-21 Raider bomber, Embraer’s North American headquarters for the production and delivery of the world’s most successful business jet, L3Harris Technologies’ world headquarters, plus companies like Collins Aerospace, STS Mod Center, and more.”
