June 27, 2019

The wait for passengers to retrieve luggage soon should be a little shorter at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.

Copyright TSP, Inc. 2019

“We’re reaching the tail end of our baggage claim expansion,” executive director Dan Letellier said. “It will be a big improvement to the space.”

The $6 million project will double the public space at baggage claim and entirely replace its luggage conveyor belts with three slope-plate carousels. The updates will ease congestion in the area and allow for more efficient baggage delivery, Letellier said, which will be especially helpful with increased flight frequency in the summer months.

“If three flights come in at around the same time, we can easily get 300 people waiting for luggage at one time,” he said. The updates ” will create a lot more space and room for people to wait and much more luggage capacity. It won’t necessarily get your bags off the plane faster, but there will be no waiting once the bags get there.”

Letellier said one of the new carousels will be open by July, while the remaining two will be done by October. The construction project also updates the interior finishes and flooring to match the previous renovations in the airport lobby, adding decorative wall panels and more color. Advertising at baggage claim also will be improved, as the back-lit posters and billboards will be replaced with digital signs, increasing the amount of ad space the airport can sell.

The airport also is preparing for the arrival of Uber now that the ride-sharing service is available in Sioux Falls. The airport is “very close” to nailing down an operating agreement with Uber, which Letellier said is a final step in the process of Uber’s integration into the state.

“We would like to have final agreements for the board to approve at its meeting next week,” he said. “Once that happens, (Uber) should get started soon, I’d say by July sometime.”

Farther out in the airport’s future is the potential construction of a parking ramp, which Letellier said might start in 2022. Final review and approval by the Airport Authority are scheduled for the next couple of months.