Clinton National Airport plans to invest hundreds of millions in passenger experience improvements over the next decade, but those upgrades rely on a project happening under the surface right now.
Currently under construction is a $117 million Central Utility Plant (CUP) project led by Clark Contractors LLC of Little Rock. That project will relocate the airport’s underground infrastructure, which is original to 1972, create new mechanical and electrical capacity, and build a geothermal wellfield that will reduce on-site greenhouse gas emissions by 85% to 95%.
Scheduled for completion in early 2028, the CUP project is an “enabling” phase for a broader redevelopment that will demolish the airport’s current baggage claim, build a new $300 million to $350 million arrivals hall and eventually widen the concourse.
Combined with $10 million in passenger experience improvements already underway and around $15 million in planned parking upgrades, the airport is positioning itself to accommodate modern flights that may be less frequent, but hold more than double the traditional number of passengers due to larger aircraft.
“It’s actually fewer flights than we’ve had at some points, with still an increased number of passengers,” Suzanne Peyton, the airport’s executive director, said. “So now, instead of 70 people getting on and off the plane at one time, there’s 200.”
The upgrades are happening as the Little Rock airport’s enplanements fell by 1.19% in 2025, with Northwest Arkansas National Airport surpassing it in passengers flying out for the first time. LIT saw 1.16 million enplanements last year; XNA saw 1.26 million.
Utility Upgrades
Clinton National’s CUP project consists of a $42.3 million, 23,200-SF two-story mechanical building, a 760-well geothermal wellfield, utility infrastructure upgrades, and an electrical yard project that includes the installation of three new 2.5-megawatt backup generators.
Once completed, the airport will have one of the largest geothermal systems in Arkansas, with 710 wells on the east side of the campus and 50 wells on the west.
The geothermal system will replace the airport’s traditional HVAC equipment, circulating water through underground pipes and using the earth’s natural temperature to heat and cool the facility.
Zack Joseph, project manager for Clark Contractors, said that the geothermal system is much more resilient and efficient than a traditional HVAC system; it just has a higher upfront cost. And Kris Fluger, Clark’s vice president, said it drastically reduces the need for on-site natural gas and reduces electrical consumption.
The only natural gas equipment remaining in the terminal facility will be restaurant grills, Peyton said.
The geothermal project secured a $17 million Voluntary Airport Low Emissions grant through the Federal Aviation Administration and $7 million in Metroplan funding. Mechanical engineering firm CMTA of Louisville, Kentucky, designed the system.
Fluger said this is Clark Contractors’ first geothermal project and its first work on an aviation campus. “It’s a very important piece to our growth in that market sector,” Fluger said.
Beyond the mechanical upgrades, the CUP project is relocating underground utilities that were blocking future terminal expansion.
“What it does for us is it gives us a mechanical and electrical capacity that we need for the future, so that then makes us sustainable and resilient,” Peyton said. “That sets us up, then, for future terminal redevelopment.”
Peyton, previously the airport’s director of properties, is a licensed professional engineer with 25 years of experience developing projects for airports across the U.S.
The CUP project will include new parking to replace spaces lost during construction. The airport plans to build around 1,600 spaces, including some covered, atop the geothermal wellfield. With the associated parking costs, the project could land closer to $150 million, Finnie said.
“People request a deck, and we want to provide another deck, but I don’t have an empty chair to move parking into to build a deck,” Peyton said. “So this will give us a lot.”
And the actual mechanical building’s second story will service two additional gates, connected to the airport via skybridge.
Future Developments
The airport’s newly unveiled entrance canopy was just the beginning, Peyton and Finnie told Arkansas Business. In the next year, about $10 million in passenger experience upgrades will be rolling out across the airport, including changes in lighting, charging stations, new seating options and Wi-Fi upgrades. The airport already unveiled new flooring in the concourse.
But the next major upgrade is a new arrivals hall, which will require the demolition of the part of the terminal that houses the existing baggage claim system and the straightening of the road that cars drive along to pick up and drop off passengers.
The airport’s current baggage claim has reached the end of its “useful life” and requires constant maintenance, Peyton said. The new layout will improve curb operations to reduce congestion and house both more modern and larger baggage claim devices.
It will also move an expanded security checkpoint to ground level and transform the terminal from its current curved layout to a linear “T” configuration. Two more additional gates will be housed above the new baggage area.
“If you’re going to do something, you should do it right, and create a terminal that works well for the passenger, and of course is beautiful public infrastructure and a good long-term investment,” Peyton said.
The airport is accepting proposals for a construction manager at risk to coordinate design and construction, and stakeholder engagement is scheduled for later this year. Once a proposal is selected, the hall’s price tag could change. Airport construction is currently going for $1,500 to $2,000 per SF, Peyton said.
In addition to the terminal projects, the airport has recently spent $100 million on airfield projects, with approximately $25 million currently underway, including taxiway and tower improvements that align with FAA goals for safety, resiliency and modernization. Recent work included replacing copper wiring with fiber-optic cable to create redundant loops around the airfield. Airport officials are also launching a master plan update this year.
Even further ahead, the airport is planning a concourse expansion within the next eight to 10 years. The current concourse, which features notched-out gate areas, would be widened on both sides to accommodate larger hold rooms, the area where passengers sit to await their flights.
The airport would expand one side at a time, Peyton said. The four additional gates from the CUP and arrivals hall projects would sustain flights during construction.
Peyton said the airport has been debt-free for more than a decade and has built up a large sinking fund for these capital projects, but the cost of the upcoming renovations will require issuing debt through bonds or Transportation Infrastructure Finance & Innovation Act loans. The airport is self-sufficient, though.
Despite the changes, Peyton and Finnie emphasized a commitment to maintaining convenience.
“We want to provide a first-class facility for the community,” Peyton said. “That’s a priority of our commission — to make it convenient for passengers and serve the community.”
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