The Stuck at the Airport team loves art and amenity-rich airport expansions and Phase II of the Concourse A Expansion opening at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) on September 17 looks great.

The 200,000-square-foot expansion adds 10 new gates, bringing the airport’s total number of gates to 124. The new gates will add seven for Delta Air Lines, two for Frontier Airlines and one common-use gate.

Eat and drink in CLT’s new gate area

In addition to an outpost of local favorite, Great Wagon Road Distilling, travelers will find Crown Diner, serving breakfast, burgers, salads and sandwiches. The airport’s third branch of Dunkin’ is here, as well as Market Place, offering snacks, beverages and other essentials.

Delta Air Lines plans to debut a 15,000-square-foot Sky Club here by the end of 2024.

Art and aviation history on display in CLT’s new gate area

By Gate A31 you’ll find a life-sized, 14×40-foot DC-9-82 T-Tail embedded in the terrazzo flooring.

Weighing in at 5,000 pounds, the “Mad Dog” was salvaged from Roswell, New Mexico, reimagined by MotoArt Studio in Los Angeles, and assembled at CLT as a hard-to-miss centerpiece.

Learn about the Wright Brothers’ “First in Flight” story on the way to the gate area. A light wall and the sound of the Wright Flyer accompany passenger movement. Four terrazzo lines, each marked by a bronze plaque, indicate the distances of the Wrights’ first powered flights.

And hanging from the mezzanine level is Val Britton’s 950-square-foot installation, “Where Earth Meets Sky,”

And don’t forget CLT’s new Overlook Area, just down the road from the terminal.

Reopened in June 2024, the CLT Airport Overlook has an unobstructed view of takeoffs and landings on the airfield, play areas, and exhibits about aviation history in the Carolinas.

The CLT Airport Overlook is also home to a retired U.S. military fighter jet: an F4 Phantom II that flew during the Vietnam War and the Cold War.

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