A multi-million-dollar expansion that will add 80,000 square feet and more comfort for passengers is underway at the Redmond Municipal Airport.

The construction will cost $180 million. This week, a coalition of Democratic members of Congress announced that $9.7 million in federal grants were recently secured for rural Oregon airports. Most of that will go to Redmond.

Airport Director Zachary Bass told OPB he expects the airport to move 1.3 million people in 2025, adding that Redmond is the third-largest commercial airport in the state, behind Portland and Eugene.

Regional population growth and increased tourism have helped “fill planes,” he said. Last November, Alaska Airlines resumed year-round service from Redmond to Portland after a COVID-era hiatus, followed by seasonal service in 2023 and 2024.

Over the past decade, Bass said passenger traffic has grown 165%.

“And we’re not expecting that to stop – maybe slow down a little bit, but not stop,” he said.

The expansion project, which has been in the works for five or six years, will add seven jet bridges that will allow people to walk directly from the airport terminal onto their airplane without having to walk outside, most of the time. There are currently places for 11 planes to board, and that won’t change. But, the airport is reserving space for four outside ramp spaces.

“You’re most likely going to be taking a jet bridge, but if we’re really full, you might still have to ground board,” Bass said.

Currently, passengers walk from the terminal to the tarmac to board aircraft.

In addition to the new walkways from terminal to plane, the airport will increase food options and seating space and invest over $1 million in art at the terminal.

The expansion won’t increase the number of planes the airport can serve at a time, decrease the number of layovers a passenger makes to get to or from Redmond, or upgrade any of the systems that cause delays in the winter due to fog.

The project is made possible in part by a $90 million dollar revenue bond that Steve Juba, finance and administration manager for the airport, said will be paid back over 25 years. The money will come from airport user fees, like parking, said Bass, not taxpayers. The project will also use $35 million from airport savings and $40 to 45 million worth of state and federal grants.

“The operations and administrative teams have really focused on being conservative and lean in terms of the Airport’s spending, which allowed the us to build up the available cash to contribute to the project,” Juba said by email.

Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and Reps. Val Hoyle and Janelle Bynum announced $9.7 million have been secured for rural airports in Oregon — with $8.4 million slated for Roberts Field.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/07/04/redmond-airport-starts-dollar180-million-expansion-with-federal-help/