Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
WEST COLUMBIA — Travelers at Columbia Metropolitan Airport can now enjoy new amenities after passing through security. The additions include a business center with private workstations, a meditation room where travelers of all faiths can pray or reflect, and a sensory room for those with conditions like autism who may be overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of a busy airport. The amenities mark the first phase of a checkpoint expansion project that officials expect to complete next month, ahead of the holiday season. The next phase will add two more security lanes and a free seating area with an outdoor patio expected to include food and drink concessions in 2026. “We are so pleased with how the first phase of this multi-phase project turned out and look forward to welcoming our passengers into these spaces while they are in the airport,” interim CEO Gregg Hornsby said in a statement. “We’ve been intentional in our planning and design process to ensure we’re creating an environment that accessible for everyone, useful and thoughtful and I think we hit the nail on the head with this part of the expansion.” Along with the sensory room, the airport recently added new facilities under the food court area past the checkpoint to make travel more accessible for passengers, including a service animal relief area, a lactation room and a family restroom with an adult changing table. The completed phase also features new automatic double doors that guide arriving passengers from the gate area to the main terminal. The area was previously an open walkway without doors. “This is something that I'm sure that passengers have probably experienced at other airports, but it just provides another level of security that we didn't have in the past,” said Kim Crafton, the airport’s vice president of marketing and air service development, “and with the expansion that we were working on already, we were able to include this new exit lane.”
