Chattanooga Airport

Travel Tidbits from airports and airlines

Chattanooga Int’l Airport goes all solar. Virgin Atlantic’s bespoke coffee. And a DJ Drag Brunch at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Tennessee’s Chattanooga Airport (CHA) is celebrating the completion of its 2.64-megawatt solar farm project.

And reaping the rewards.

For now, CHA is the first and only airport in the U.S. generating enough renewable energy to offset all the airport’s energy needs.

Power generated by CHA’s solar farm is sold through a partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and EPB (the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga) and the airport then gets enough credit to cover its full electric bill.

“This project has immediate benefits to our airport and community, and we’re proud to set an example in renewable energy for other airports, businesses and our region,”said Terry Hart, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Airport, “While generating a local renewable resource, we are also increasing the economic efficiency of the airport.”

Virgin Atlantic’s bespoke coffee helps the homeless

Virgin Atlantic is getting a bespoke coffee blend made by Change Please, an award-winning coffee company that provides support services for people who are homeless.

The new blend will be available on all Virgin Atlantic flights and clubhouses worldwide beginning in Fall 2019. Profits from the partnership will go towards Change Please’s efforts to help the homeless community reenter the workforce.

DJ Drag Brunch at Newark Liberty International Airport

In support of Pride Month, airport restaurant operator OTG and United Airlines hosted a DJ Drag Brunch on Thursday, June 20 at Novella restaurant in the Terminal C Global Bazaar at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Proceeds from the brunch will support The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) young people that operates free and confidential crisis services including a 24/7 phone lifeline, text, and chat programs.

Before and after brunch, travelers got a treat and, no doubt, great pictures, as the brunch entertainers traveled throughout the terminal.

Chattanooga airport rebrands

Like a lot of other small airports, Tennessee’s Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport is trying to boost the number of passengers that use its services.

The airport serves about 600,000 passengers a year and offers nonstop service to Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and six other cities. Inside the terminal, there’s a restaurant, a deli, free wireless Internet and a free business center where the amenities include complimentary snacks and beverages.

“With a new Volkswagen factory in town, two new Amazon distribution centers on the horizon and lots of business growth in the region, the airport decided now was a good time to improve its brand awareness,” said Christina Siebold, the airport’s director of marketing and communications. A Birmingham, Ala.-based advertising firm, Big Communications, was hired to do a study and come back with some ideas.

Preliminary results were presented to the airport board Monday night. Among the consultant’s suggestions: Adopt a new logo and a new tag line (“Get on board”) and embrace a new name: Chattanooga Airport, which is what everyone already calls it.

Siebold says the board accepted the report and voted to move ahead with phase two, which involves creating commercials and print ads and exploring social media.

Photo courtesy: Chattanooga Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB).
This post originally appeared on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin.