EXCITING GROWTH PLANS and new openings are in the works at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. In August the airport welcomed its first wine bar, Vino Volo, in Concourse C — the home of American Airlines, JetBlue and international flights. In terms of passenger traffic, the airport saw unprecedented growth in recent months, in large part due to additions of a number of low-fare carriers like Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines.

Florida-based Spirit Airlines added three new year-round connections in May, including non-stop flights to Baltimore (BWI), Cleveland (CLE) and Orlando (MCO). In November the airline will add four non-stop flights, including new routes to and from Boston (BOS), Newark (EWR), Tampa (TPA) and Minneapolis (MSP).

Also in May, Condor Airlines began flying seasonal flights from Frankfurt (FRA) to New Orleans — the first direct flights to fly from Europe to New Orleans since being suspended following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Earlier in the spring, British Airways began direct service four days a week from London (LHR) to Louis Armstrong, and Southwest began flying non-stop flights from New Orleans to Raleigh- Durham (RDU) and Columbus (CMH). In November British Airways increases service to five days a week.

New planes aren’t the only mode of transportation welcomed at Louis Armstrong this summer. Lyft began operation at the airport in July, now located in the ground transportation area on the arrivals level.

In August the Federal Aviation Administration announced plans to award $282.6 million in Airport Improvement Program grants to 67 airports in 29 states. As part of this grant program, Louis Armstrong will receive $26.1 million in combined AIP and discretionary funding to construct its new terminal.

The massive terminal construction project currently underway at the airport costs nearly $1 billion and is expected to open in early 2019 — a bigger price tag and later timeline than originally planned. The delay is due in part to the addition of five gates and more terminal space to the original plan. However, the additional cost and time are necessary, considering the airport saw more than 11.1 million passengers in 2016 — the highest number in its sevendecade history.

The number of departing passengers grew twice as fast as officials expected in 2016. By 2019 the airport expects the number of passengers flying out of New Orleans to be 18 percent higher than was expected for that year in 2013 — the year the project was initially proposed.

In addition to 35 new gates, the 972,000-square-foot terminal will include a 2,190-car parking garage, a central utility plant and a ground transportation area.

In other good financial news, the state of Louisiana refinanced $377 million in gasoline and fuel taxes in August, freeing up more than $54 million for infrastructure improvements. State treasurer Ron Henson said in a news release the savings should be spent on the TIMED infrastructure program, planned to widen 536 miles of state highways and maintain and improve three major bridges, the Port of New Orleans and Louis Armstrong.