FLETCHER, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Asheville Regional Airport, the small but reliable local travel depot, is receiving some expansive new upgrades in a soaring renovation.

The first of several improvements to come to AVL are brand-new ticket counters, available for public use tomorrow, Wednesday, June 11.

“The passengers are going to be wowed. I just know they are,” said AVL Chief Administrative Officer Tina Kinsey.

The new counters are located on the far right of the airport in a bright, airy room. On June 25, they will be accompanied by a new TSA screening corridor, which will lead upward to the freshly-constructed North Concourse, featuring new gates and mercantile stations, most of which should be open by the end of July.

“What I want passengers to understand is that we’re having to open in phases. This is the first little phase,” Kinsey explained.

“It’s very exciting to give everyone a taste as quickly as we can. This has been a long time coming. Years in the making. Why are we opening this first? We’re opening it first because we can. We want to get passengers in as quickly as we can. We want our airline partners to be able to learn the space as quickly as they can, and work through any kinks, and really begin to own the space and enjoy it,” Kinsey said.

The new concourse was built by the airport but envisioned by the community. Kinsey reported that over 4,000 community members responded to an AVL survey about the project.

The survey was designed “to help us really hone in on what this airport should look like, feel like, what amenities were important to the region,” Kinsey said. “So, everything you see was designed with intention.”

Design elements in the new concourse are intended to reflect the natural environment of the Asheville area. Large windows pour natural light into the room, wooden beams span the walls and blue, grey and beige floor patterns invoke the colors and shapes of local rivers.

For more information, visit www.flyavl.com.