KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Travelers who have waited in long security lines at McGhee Tyson Airport should get some relief in a couple of years. The airport serving Knoxville plans to screen more than twice as many passengers each hour as it can today, with construction set to start in January.
Bryan White, who leads planning and development at the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, laid out the plan Thursday at a meeting of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization. He told the board the current checkpoint has a capacity problem and is boxed in.
The project adds 3,500 square feet of TSA screening space. Capacity is planned to reach 960 passengers an hour in 2028 and 1,470 an hour by 2040. Work is expected to wrap up by August 2028.
By 2028 the checkpoint will gain one standard lane and one TSA PreCheck lane, for four and two in all. Another of each is planned by 2040. Travelers will also get a recombobulation area to gather their things after screening. White said the existing checkpoint will stay open during construction and he expects limited disruption.
A $10 million federal grant from the Airport Terminal Program, part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is helping pay for the work. The airport authority calls the checkpoint a key piece of Flight Plan, its 10-year development strategy. Authority President Patrick Wilson has said the award lets the airport modernize for the millions of passengers who use it.
The airport, which sits in Blount County, has seen record passenger growth. It has added new airlines and destinations and is building a 3,500-space parking garage due in 2027. A separate concourse project on the east end will add four to six gates.
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