Nelson Charles Muntz International Airport

**Nelson Charles Muntz International Airport** (IATA: **NCM**, ICAO: **PSCN**), formerly and still commonly known as **Nelson Gesop Airport**, is an international airport located in Nelson, Cadland, Subway World. It is the primary airport serving the Nelson-Arroyo-Seifert metropolitan area, although this role was initially repurposed for the larger Nelson Seifert International Airport but later scrapped in favor of a major expansion of Gesop.

The airport was initially built in 2017 and opened in January 2019, before being completely rebuilt in 2023 and renamed after Charles Muntz, the main antagonist of the 2009 Disney/Pixar film *Up*. It serves as the main hub for Subway World Airlines, Subway World Express and Air Ruby.

## History

Construction of the original iteration of Nelson Charles Muntz International Airport began in December 2017, half a year after the opening of the first airport in Subway World, Nicole North International Airport. The original plans for the airport were two terminals in the northern side of the terminal with a planned southern third terminal.

The airport was initially expected for completion in 2018, however due to construction delays, Nelson International Airport only opened on January 1, 2019, with a single terminal consisting of 10 gates. Further development became stagnated, although a new cell phone waiting lot was completed in 2020 and a new Subway station directly below the airport opened in 2021.

In September 2022, Subway World Aviation announced that all outstanding projects in Nelson International Airport would be cancelled in favour of a new airport planned to be built further south in Seifert. It was also announced that the existing airport would be renamed **Nelson Gesop Airport**, effective September 30, 2022.

On October 14, 2022, a master plan calling for the demolition and rebuilding of Nelson Gesop Airport was announced, intended to replace the 2017-era infrastructure which was considered inadequate. The new airport would include two terminals and two runways, which will serve most domestic flights and a limited number of international flights into Nelson.

Preliminary works to divert the nearby Nelson River began in November 2022, assisted by originalcement experts. The reclaimed land would increase the available area by 20% for the proposed master plan.

On December 2, 2022, the airport was temporarily closed and all flights were either diverted or suspended indefinitely, ahead of the opening of Seifert. Construction work on the rebuilding project started on the same day and was originally planned to be completed by January 2023.

On April 5, 2023, Subway World Aviation officially announced that it would expand Gesop to handle international traffic as Nelson Seifert International Airport was unable to cope with the increasing demand. The existing reconstruction project was incorporated and the planned Terminal 1 was merged to form Terminal 3, while plans for the original Terminal 2 were abolished.

Construction of the new expansions began on April 7, 2023, while work on Terminal 3 resumed albeit with a modified layout. The airport was renamed yet again to **Nelson Charles Muntz International Airport** at the same time to reflect its renewed position as a major international airport, which resulted in the renaming of Latissa’s airport to avoid confusion.

By May 2023, Terminal 1 and the first runway were structurally completed. The airport reopened on June 30, 2023, with Air Ruby flight 1 from Nicole North International Airport being the first commercial flight to land on the new runway.

On August 7, 2023, construction commenced on the second stage of the reconstruction project, which includes a new Terminal 2, a control tower and a second runway, while space has been reserved for a potential expansion of Terminal 3 in the future. Terminal 2 opened on November 17, 2023, with the control tower expected to begin operations by the end of the year.

## Terminals

Nelson Charles Muntz International Airport was completely rebuilt in two stages and would consist of three terminals upon completion. Terminals 1 and 3 makes up the first stage of operations, while Terminal 2 opened on November 17, 2023 as part of the second stage.

### Terminal 1

**Terminal 1** consists of a main terminal connected to two piers, 1A and 1B, with a total of 4 large gates (gates A1-A4) and 6 medium gates (gates B1-B6). The terminal was designed in-house by both originalcement and Subway World Aviation, the former who conceived the elevated design of the piers to maximise gate space.

Terminal 1 serves as the main hub for Subway World Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Air Ruby, as well as all international flights at Pier 1A.

### Terminal 2

**Terminal 2** consists of 4 medium gates (gates D1-D4) and is only configured for domestic flights due to a lack of immigration desks in the departures and arrivals area. The terminal uses a more traditional layout as opposed to the elevated pier design of Terminal 1.

Terminal 2 exclusively serves as the secondary hub for Prismarine Air.

### Terminal 3

**Terminal 3** serves domestic Subway World Express flights and consists of 7 small gates (gates F1-F7). It was formerly known as Terminal 1 during the initial NGA reconstruction project, but was later renamed to Terminal 3 when plans to bring back international traffic in Gesop were announced.

The landside area of the terminal is split into two different areas, the northern part housing the check-in counters, security checkpoints and immigration counters for departures, while the southern part is the arrivals area with baggage claims for domestic passengers.

## Ground transportation

### Transit

The Nelson Subway’s C and D lines currently serve the airport at NCM Airport-Terminal 3 station, connecting it with Cyberopolis, Downtown Nelson, Arroyo and Seifert. SouthWestern Railways and the Nelson RER are planned to serve Terminal 1 in the future.

An automated people mover line, the NCM SkyLink, connects Terminals 1 and 3 and is accessible to both airside and landside areas of the airport.

### Car

Road connections to the airport is mainly through the ICE 101 to Nelson. The airport offers paid hourly and long-term parking at its on-site garage at Terminal 1, with a cell phone lot planned to be built next to Terminal 1’s railway station.

The Rental Car Center is located east of the parking garage and is used by Maxis and Estero. The facility is connected to Terminal 1 through two pedestrian walkways.

## Accidents and incidents

* On October 15, 2022, during demolition of the scrapped Terminal B, part of the airport was destroyed by a sinkhole created by building implosion. The airport was closed indefinitely and temporary repair works commenced.