Concord airport takes off as CLT alternative

Good morning! Today is Monday, June 29, 2026. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.

Hi Ledger readers, Ashley here. Wanting to travel somewhere this summer but feeling a little strapped for cash? More locals are choosing to fly out of Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (especially if they’re bound for Florida), as Lindsey Banks explores in today’s lead story. Passenger counts at the Concord airport have more than doubled in the past three years, especially as more flights (and another carrier) have been added to the airport in that timeframe.

We’ll be pausing our newsletters for the rest of this week ahead of the July 4 holiday, and we’ll be back in your inboxes next week with a weeklong series helmed by longtime Charlotte arts critic Lawrence Toppman. Have a safe and enjoyable Fourth!

Today’s Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by T.R. Lawing Realty:

by Lindsey Banks

On Thursday, about 45 minutes before her family's flight to Florida, Henrietta Richardson and her family parked steps away from the terminal and leisurely waited to board their flight.

She didn’t need to anxiously check her watch, wait in a long security line or rush through a crowded concourse. 

Instead, Richardson, her husband and their son had booked seats on an Allegiant Air flight at the Concord-Padgett Regional Airport, a small regional airport that’s becoming a popular alternative to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, particularly for Florida getaways. 

“It’s not such a big hassle, and it’s more organized,” Richardson said, comparing that afternoon to the times she’s flown out of the Charlotte area’s much larger and busier airport. 

In fact, the Concord airport has more than doubled its monthly passenger totals over the past three years, according to data provided by the City of Concord. 

Much of that growth has come from Avelo Airlines, which launched service in Concord in May 2024 and established the airport as its operating base in March 2025. Avelo announced last week three additional routes to Florida: Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa. 

Along with Allegiant Air, which started flying at Concord in 2013, the one-runway, two-gate airport offers nonstop flights to 12 destinations, also including Fort Lauderdale and St. Pete-Clearwater in Florida; Long Island, N.Y.; Cleveland; Indianapolis; Rochester and Albany in New York; New Haven, Conn.; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Our commitment to Concord is stronger than ever as we continue delivering affordable fares, a convenient and stress-free travel experience, and industry-leading reliability to Queen City customers,” Avelo Airlines Chief Marketing Officer Scott DeAngelo said in a press release announcing the new routes.

Additionally, Sun Country Airlines, which was recently bought by Allegiant, operates chartered flights to multiple Caesars Entertainment destinations, like casinos and hotels in Atlantic City, N.J., and Reno, Nev.

At Concord, monthly commercial traffic has climbed about 138% over the past four years, with a significant jump after Avelo set up shop in 2024:

The airport now has 245 based aircraft (including privately owned aircraft) and records about 87,000 annual landings and takeoffs across private and commercial aircraft, according to a 2025 economic impact report from the N.C. Department of Transportation’s aviation division. 

It’s still far smaller than Charlotte’s airport, which reported about 19 million local passengers in 2025 and about 54 million if you include connecting passengers. CLT had about 574,000 takeoffs and landings in 2025.

City officials also credit the airport’s rise to Concord’s rapid population growth, proximity to Interstate 85 and nearby attractions like the Charlotte Motor Speedway and Concord Mills.

And although Allegiant and Avelo share a single terminal that doesn’t have fast food options or jet bridges for loading, passengers say it doesn’t outweigh the convenience of flying out of Concord-Padgett Regional (which has a head-scratching airport code of JQF). 

Cost seems to be the main reason more local travelers are making the drive to Concord. Husband-and-wife Mia and Bryce, who were on the same flight as the Richardsons to Florida for a beach vacation, traveled 40 minutes from their home in Matthews for a cheaper flight. 

The airport is known for its low-cost carriers, with one-way fares typically running from $40 to $85, depending on destination and travel dates. Avelo’s three new routes to Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa are being advertised with fares starting at $49. According to a Ledger search, a round-trip booking with Avelo from Concord to Orlando (MCO) for a weekend trip in late November currently costs about $220. For comparison, the same trip booked on American Airlines at Charlotte Douglas would cost about $500. 

Mia said she still flies out of Charlotte Douglas for business trips because it has more flight times and destinations, but she prefers Concord for leisure trips to Florida whenever possible. 

Parking at Concord-Padgett Regional is also straightforward. The airport’s single commercial terminal sits directly across from its parking lot, which is open to both overnight and drop-off parking. It’s free for the first hour, and daily parking is $15 (up from $14 starting July 1). 

"It's just less stress," Bryce said. "It's cheaper and more convenient. You can just park and walk over."

Charlotte Douglas asks travelers to purchase a parking pass online ahead of time. It currently charges $14 a day to park in its long-term parking lots, or $28 a day in the daily deck. A shuttle is required to get from both parking areas to the terminal.

“[At Charlotte,] you’ve got to find a place to park and then take the bus to the airport, then you have to go through a long security line — it’s just more navigation,” Richardson said. 

Her son, Brandon, said the airport’s smaller size also makes the experience less stressful. 

“People like the convenience,” he said. “You don’t have the headache of long lines, just in general. Like even the food lines at Charlotte are long.”

The shorter walks were especially important for his father last week, who recently had knee surgery. 

Because of that, the Richardsons say they only need to arrive 45 minutes to an hour before a Concord departure, instead of the recommended two hours at CLT. 

And as for the lack of Bojangles or concourse breweries, Brandon said that in the time they saved not having to wait for a shuttle from the parking lot or go through long security lines, his parents kicked off their vacation with a nice brunch at Another Broken Egg Cafe in Concord before they headed to the airport. 

Lindsey Banks is assistant editor for The Charlotte Ledger. Reach her at [email protected].

Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:

It’s been a little over a year since Ohio-based Huntington Bank opened its first branch in the Carolinas, in Charlotte’s SouthPark area, part of a march toward 55 branches envisioned for the Carolinas in the next few years.

The bank now has 10 branches in the two states, including a second Charlotte location in South End.

Huntington is one of several banks that have eyed the Charlotte region for expansion, both in the branches that we can all see as we drive around town, but also less visible lines of business that include wealth management and commercial lending. Huntington says it employs several hundred workers in the Charlotte area, which is a regional headquarters. It’s the country’s 18th-largest bank by assets, according to data from the Federal Reserve.

To check in on the status of Huntington’s expansion, we recently talked with Trent Holland, the bank’s regional president for North and South Carolina. Here is part of the conversation, edited for clarity and space:

Q. Are there any lines of business that are doing exceptionally well?

We're one of the largest SBA [Small Business Administration] lenders in the country, one of the largest equipment finance lenders in the country, and so we had more clients in the Carolinas than we realized when we got here. That gave us momentum in those areas. 

Equipment finance has been a real bright spot for us as companies are really active in growing in Charlotte and in the Carolinas. It’s everything you can think of: manufacturing equipment, IT equipment. We do a really broad range, so that's a kind of core competency.

We have a fantastic wealth offering, and that's really taken off. That group is kind of ahead of where we hoped to be.

Retail has gotten off the ground faster than we thought. That's been one of the more rewarding things, to see how quickly we get community engagement and acceptance of the brand and then folks actually choosing to do business. It's really fun to watch these branches ramp up in terms of community partnerships, their deposit base, their loan base.

Q. The Carolinas are attracting a lot of different financial institutions here. A lot of them are growing — JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank and a bunch of others. In that kind of environment, how do you set yourself apart? And do you need to set yourself apart, or is there enough business here for everybody? 

I think it is kind of “yes” and “yes.” We do have what we think is a very differentiated model, a lot of local decision-making. We have a really good culture. You can be pretty nimble if you communicate across lines of business, and that's really key in our model.

Our model is local delivery, but having the expertise that you would expect from a very large institution. The culture allows us to do that. We're a big bank, but we can be pretty nimble. That’s a big advantage.

And I'll say there is a lot of business to go around here. There are certainly niches that the money center banks play, and our friends in the community banking space serve an important purpose. We're somewhat in the middle. We think we can provide large-institution capabilities but still give people that kind of white-glove, personal attention, an assigned relationship manager that you might get at a community bank. It's that part we believe is differentiated.

Q. As you look at Charlotte and the Carolinas, what are the things that Huntington Bank likes about that market? Obviously, it's growing a lot. But is there anything specific to North and South Carolina that you're seeing that makes this a good place to be?

We're very fortunate in this region, in my opinion. We have a little bit of everything. It's really a super diverse economy. You have a tremendous talent base in Charlotte for banking. That makes it very attractive.

You have a number of industries represented here that we really do well in. North and South Carolina are somewhere in the top five in the country as far as fastest-growing markets, so population growth is absolutely part of it — and you know, again, a good talent pool, a cultural fit.

We're a Midwest bank. There are a lot of cultural similarities between people in the Midwest and the Southeast, in terms of what things are important to those groups of people, that we feel like our story resonates really well.

We like to think of ourselves as really good at our job, but humble and likable and good to get along with, and we think that's sort of a nice culture fit. —Tony Mecia

Almost everything in Mecklenburg County is going to cost a little more starting Wednesday, when a higher sales tax kicks in to start funding local transit and transportation projects.

Last November, Mecklenburg voters approved a hike in the local sales tax from 7.25% to 8.25%. The N.C. Department of Revenue told businesses earlier this year to start collecting the extra money starting July 1.

The higher sales tax is expected to raise more than $19B over the next 30 years, with the money going toward rail lines, enhanced bus service, and roads and road-related projects (such as sidewalks, intersection overhauls and pedestrian safety). 

The higher rate means that starting Wednesday, a $20 pack of paper towels will cost an additional 20 cents. An $1,800 refrigerator will cost an additional $18.

The higher prices come as consumers are already facing increasing costs for gas, housing and many household goods. Backers of the higher tax said it is needed to improve the Charlotte area’s infrastructure as the region grows.

The new tax does not apply to several categories of items, including many grocery items, boats, electricity, jet engines, aircraft and manufactured homes. —Tony Mecia

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