Purdue OKs $11.8M terminal, hopes for return of commercial fights

Next up: Landing first passenger service since 2004 at Purdue Airport. Plus, as campus housing crunch continues, Purdue trustees move ahead on second new dorm this year.

Talk about the return of regularly scheduled, commercial passenger flights in and out of Purdue Airport for the first time in more than two decades got a bit more serious Friday, when university trustees signed off on construction of an expansion of the terminal.

The 8,000-square-foot, $11.8 million terminal would go just west of the existing terminal, which sits near the intersection of U.S. 231 and Airport Road on the southwest edge of Purdue’s campus.

The project – aimed at serving narrow-bodied airlines such as something as large as a 737 and accommodating modern TSA security requirements in ways the current terminal doesn’t – is expected to be built and open by May 2025, according to a schedule presented to Purdue trustees Friday.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)