Bozeman airport expansion work takes off as summer travel season arrives

BOZEMAN, Mont. – As summer travel picks up, travelers arriving at Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport should prepare for changes due to ongoing expansion work. 

The most notable travel impact will actually be for people landing at BZN, said airport CEO Brian Sprenger. The current construction has reduced the number of baggage carousels from three to two. “We have the remaining two just so that we can, basically construct the area that we're now working on,” he said. 

The $180 million east terminal expansion project aims to accommodate the increasing number of travelers. It will feature three larger baggage carousels and expand the airport's oldest gates to fit larger aircraft. Additionally, three more gates will be added, bringing the total to 15, along with new food, beverage and retail concessions inside security. 

Travelers should note that while the construction is not affecting outgoing flights, arriving two hours early is advised. 

“We know sometimes that may be plenty, other times, especially during our peak periods in the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. time frame, there are going to be times when you're going to need almost every bit of that two hours,” Sprenger said. 

Two gates are out of service due to construction, but the airport anticipatesthe increase of passengers using the airport to continue this summer. 

“Despite the uncertainties in the economy right now, we're seeing the numbers of seats coming into the market, coming in this fall, with double digit increases, for both summer and fall and going into early winter,” Sprenger said 

Travelers should also be aware of TSA's efforts to minimize delays related to the REAL ID requirements. Sprenger advised bringing one of the other qualifying IDs if lacking a REAL ID. 

Here’s a list of acceptable identification to go through TSA, taken from TSA’s website: