Work is expected to begin this spring on a $72 million expansion of McKinney National Airport allowing commercial passenger service by late next year.

“We continue to work toward a May 2025 groundbreaking,” Ken Carley, the airport director, said Friday, March 7.

The McKinney City Council voted Feb. 18 to approve a pre-construction contract for a 45,000-square-foot terminal with three gates and a parking lot with up to 1,500 spaces accessed via a roundabout on FM 546.

McKinney has owned the airport since the 1970s and residents have twice rejected airport expansion plans. But Mayor George Fuller, pointing to expected economic impact, continued to champion the cause.

The $200 million bond proposal on the May 2023 ballot was rejected by nearly 59% of voters participating. The proposal would have included a four-gate, 144,000-square-foot terminal, a new taxiway and 2,000 parking spaces. A smaller expansion plan was previously rejected in 2015.

Fuller said the city was negotiating with two potential carriers to serve the airport and Carley said no final decision had been made.

It was expected the aircraft used would be narrow-body, short-to-medium-range passenger jets such as the Boeing 737-700 or Airbus A320.

The terminal will initially open with three gates with the potential to expand to five. Fuller expected the airport would begin with three daily departures serving 200,000 passengers in the first year and up to 1 million passengers per year by 2031.

Funding includes a $1.7 million grant from the McKinney Economic Development Corp., a $3.6 million grant from the McKinney Community Development Corp. and a $30 million federal loan under the Transportation Infrastructure and Innovation Act.

McKinney National Airport (FAA identifier TKI) is a general aviation airport handling several hundred flights a day by privately-owned aircraft and corporate jets, including Fortune 500 companies based in DFW.

It has a single north-south runway 7,500 feet long that is being extended by 500 feet and is located 2 miles southeast of downtown McKinney.

It will become North Texas’ third commercial airport, 35 miles from both Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field. 

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By Bob Wieland | [email protected]