Mobile International Airport is now the official name of the new facility in progress at the old Brookley Field, between Interstate 10 and Mobile Bay.
Airport officials also unveiled preliminary plans for the new facilities. The plans show a two-wing terminal and nearby covered parking area, but officials emphasized that the actual buildings may look different than these early images.
Formerly the Mobile Downtown Airport, the new facility will be home to commercial passenger service for the Gulf Coast city by 2024. The word “international” in the name is a nod to the long-standing plan to provide broader service than is currently available at Mobile Regional Airport.
An international designation could lead to passenger service to the Caribbean, Canada or Mexico, Mobile Airport Authority President Chris Curry has said, but it would be a particular benefit to Mobile industries, which could ship goods directly to Mobile rather than stopping elsewhere for customs.
Although the international status needs federal approval, Curry has said that in his former job at Tallahassee International Airport, the facility received international designation with far fewer international business interests than Mobile has. Mobile’s international cluster — just at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley — includes Airbus, Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Continental Motors and a host of support firms.
Local and federal funds have already been committed to the airport project, and authorities hope to be debt free when the new terminal opens.
