State provides $12 million in funding for terminal upgrade at Hilton Head Island Airport

The Hilton Head Island Airport has received a $12 million state grant for improvements at the terminal.

The terminal project will cost $53 million to complete, and Beaufort County has accrued $35 million for the terminal, with the Federal Aviation Authority providing more than half of the funding.

“This is an important win for Hilton Head and Beaufort County,” South Carolina State Sen. Tom Davis said in a press release. “The upgrades to the Hilton Head Island Airport terminal are needed to match the growth of Beaufort County, showcase the Lowcountry, and deliver people directly to the No. 1 island in the US.”

Funding for the terminal project will go to:

• 43,000 more square feet of terminal space

• Three more passenger jetways

• Additional parking space

• Security upgrades

• New baggage claim

• Grand hall

• Four-lane passenger drop‐off and pick-up area

It was a House and Senate collaboration that first alerted county officials the state had unappropriated funding and secured it, Hilton Head Airport Director Jon Rembold said in an interview with The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. Rembold also went to the statehouse to lobby for the funding.

“The terminal was in the early stages of design. And so we decided that it was in the airport’s best interest that we work on making sure that the need for funding for the terminal was front and center of our delegation’s mind in Colombia,” Rembold said.

Rembold said the airport must have all $53 million in funding identified before construction can start. The airport applied for a $30 million grant provided by the 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but the money has not been allocated Rembold said.

Hilton Head’s airport has been growing in recent years. The airport went from only having one airline to three, total passengers increased by 66% in 2021 compared to 2019, and there were a maximum of about 25 departures a day in 2021. Updating the Hilton Head airport would also grant potential visitors and vacationers easier access to the island Rembold said.

“Since the airport was able to complete the runway expansion four years ago, that opened a whole new era for the airport and it really showed the pent-up demand for direct flights to the island,” Rembold said.

“The hope is that the whole system is improved as everything works together. Then ideally, better direct flights into the island with a better terminal with more of the amenities that travelers expect at a terminal then hopefully at some point that helps to alleviate at least a small portion of the vehicular traffic that we see on and off the island,” he said.

The county already owns all of the land required for the project, and the Beaufort County Council passed on first reading June 13 a proposal to spend nearly $1 million to purchase land on Hunter Road for additional parking for the upgraded terminal.

“This purchase is an excellent opportunity for the airport as we start moving forward with the project,” Rembold said. “Hilton Head Island Airport will be positioned to better serve our residents and visitors due to these transformative projects.”

Construction bids were due Thursday, June 23, and will be reviewed.

Hilton Head’s new airport terminal is also expected to stimulate the local economy. The county projects the enhanced terminal will have a $150 million economic impact on the region.

Rembold said the economic impact generally is projected by taking the total money spent on an infrastructure project and multiplying it by three.

The airport currently produces $17 million in annual sales tax revenue and adds a half-billion dollars to the local economy.

Construction on the project is expected to begin in winter 2022-23 and be completed in 2025.