Nelson Seifert International Airport

**Nelson Seifert International Airport** (IATA: **NSI**, ICAO: **PSCS**) is an international airport located within the city of Seifert, Subway World. It was intended to be the primary airport serving the Nelson-Arroyo-Seifert metropolitan area, replacing Nelson Gesop Airport which had reached capacity.

The airport opened to commercial traffic on December 9, 2022, serving as the secondary hub for Prismarine Link and Subway World Express. Its namesake is the city it is located in, itself named after fictional Samuelian aviation pioneer Edmund Seifert.

## History

In September 2022, Subway World Aviation took over commercial aviation operations in Nelson. The operator soon realised that Nelson Gesop Airport was almost at capacity and could not be expanded further due to the abundance of forests nearby. It was thus proposed to the government of Subway World that same month on building a new international airport and planned suburb south of the existing airport. Governor Spring Kitty approved the project on September 21, 2022.

On September 23, 2022, construction works began at the site with the laying of foundations at the site. The master plan of the airport was quickly drafted, setting up plans for a central terminal with two piers along with two perpendicular runways for its initial opening.

Terminal 1 was structurally completed on October 7, 2022, and Subway World Aviation subsequently announced that the airport would open in December that year. Most landside facilities were completed and ready for opening by early December, with the exception of the parking garage.

The first flight to land at the new airport was the 01:45 UTC Prismarine Air charter flight from Nicole North International Airport on December 9, 2022, which transported news reporters and invited aviation enthusiasts to tour the new airport. The first commercial flight, Prismarine Link flight 501 from Lyne City-Fortson Metropolitan Airport, landed at 02:55 UTC, while the first departure was Prismarine Air flight 1 to Nicole North International Airport at 03:30 UTC, using the same aircraft used in the charter flight.

Construction of a second terminal, which had been planned for Subway World Airlines to open in March 2023, commenced on December 23, 2022. A new satellite concourse and a people mover system were also planned at the same time for a future expansion, however these were cancelled before the completion of Terminal 2.

On March 9, 2023, Subway World Aviation announced that a new airport would be built instead due to a lack of space available for expansion at Seifert. In April 2023, with SWA announcing plans to expand Gesop, Seifert was confirmed to be relegated to a secondary domestic and cargo airport when the new expansions were completed. On April 7th, construction of Terminal 2 was officially halted and all remaining expansion plans were shelved.

On November 9, 2023, SWA cancelled its plans to rebuild Seifert and would instead begin planning for Nelson's third airport to replace Seifert.

## Facilities

### Terminals

The airport consists of two terminals with a total of 10 gates. Terminal 1 opened alongside the airport in December 2022, while Terminal 2 is cancelled.

#### Terminal 1

**Terminal 1** consists of six small gates (gates B1-B6) and two medium gates (gates A1 and A2) across two piers.

The main portion of the terminal handles both domestic and international departures and arrivals, along with airport security and six immigration desks. The entire terminal is revolved around a large rotunda at the south-eastern part of the airport. Terminal 1A holds the two medium gates and Terminal 1B handles all small domestic flights.

Terminal 1 serves as the main hub for Prismarine Air and its regional subsidiary Prismarine Link, as well as the secondary hub for Subway World Express. Samuelian Airlines also serves the terminal through its codeshared flight to Desert Valley.

## Ground transportation

### Transit

Nelson Subway serves the airport at NSI Airport-Terminal 1 station and in the future NSI Airport-Terminal 2 station, which are located in the respective terminals. Both stations are served by the Red Line, which connects the airport with Latissa and Nelson Gesop Airport.

Shuttle buses and hotel courtesy shuttles stop at the arrivals section of the terminals they serve. Corgi Bus Lines is planned to serve the airport in the foreseeable future.

### Car

The extension of the Airport Expressway was exclusively built to serve the airport, although the full alignment to downtown Nelson will not be open for traffic until early 2023. Hourly and long—term parking is available at Terminal 1, while the cell phone lot is temporarily located opposite the future site of Terminal 2 on Ortega Way.