Lakeland Linder Wins $13M in Federal Grants: Second Gate Hold Room, New Holding Bays, Air Taxi Site

Lakeland Linder International Airport is getting a second post-security hold room, three new aircraft holding bays and a designated site for electric air taxi testing after city commissioners approved nearly $13 million in federal grant agreements on Aug. 17. Construction on the terminal work starts in September, which means the cramped single waiting room that Lakeland families have squeezed into since Avelo began flying here is finally about to change.

The bigger of the two grants covers the airfield: roughly $8.1 million from the FAA toward a $8.6 million project to build three holding bays off taxiway Alpha. The other is a $4.8 million U.S. Department of Transportation award for the terminal itself. Commissioners also put $248,078 in city money toward improvements at the economy parking lot.

What changes inside the terminal

Right now there is one holding room where passengers wait after clearing security. Interim Airport Director Adam Lunn has called that a key handicap in scheduling flights, and the reason adding a second carrier is awkward rather than simple.

The expansion adds a second gate hold room plus a list of things parents and travelers with disabilities have been asking for:

• A family restroom with an adult changing station.
• A relief area for service animals, which the airport says it is seeing far more of.
• An indoor children's play area of about 250 square feet, designed in partnership with the Florida Children's Museum, with interactive pieces aimed at different age groups.

The city's share of the terminal project runs a little over $252,000, coming out of the airport's renewal and replacement fund. Design is finished and the city has advertised for construction bids.

The growth behind the grant

Avelo Airlines launched Lakeland Linder's first real commercial passenger service in June 2024 and remains its only commercial carrier. Lunn told commissioners the airport has served 390,000 passengers since then, with the low-fare carrier now flying to as many as 10 destinations, some seasonal.

That is close to a fourfold jump in boardings in a single year. Lakeland still sits 21st out of 22 Florida airports for passenger service, which Lunn described as respectable for an airport this early in its commercial life.

Airport leadership is courting bigger names. Lunn said the goal is a good market mix and that the airport would welcome a traditional carrier such as American or United, or Southwest. He said the tone of conversations with airlines has shifted: carriers now ask how the Lakeland-Winter Haven market is performing and when more gate capacity is coming.

Why planes need somewhere to park

The holding bays are less glamorous and arguably more useful. When severe weather rolls through or the FAA orders a ground stop, aircraft at Lakeland Linder currently sit on the taxiways. The three new bays give them a place to wait without blocking movement on the field. That work begins no later than October.

Air taxis, starting with boxes

The airport has set aside space on its northeast corner, near Drane Field Road, for an air mobility center with parking for roughly six vehicles. Research and vehicle testing could begin by the end of this year, starting with cargo before any human passengers ride along. The longer-term idea is an intermodal hub, connecting those aircraft to city buses, rideshare pickups and the terminal.

The timing is not coincidental. Florida was recently selected by the FAA as a partner in an advanced air mobility pilot program, with testing planned at SunTrax in Auburndale, about 15 miles east.

What's still pending

Lakeland is waiting on FAA approval for a parallel runway. Lunn expects a design roughly 5,000 feet long and 75 feet wide, sized to what actually flies here now, with room left on either side to stretch it toward 7,000 feet if larger aircraft ever justify it.

All of this is groundwork. The terminal Lakeland actually wants, a full-scale expansion, is targeted for around 2030, and the hold room going up this fall is meant to keep the building workable until then.

For more Lakeland coverage, visit the Lakeland Community Website, and tell us what you want to see at the airport terminal when you join the conversation in our Community Forum. You can also read more business and development stories or catch up on City Commission coverage.

Header photo: Netweave / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)