MCKINNEY, Texas — It had been discussed for years, but Tuesday night it actually happened.
Because no one spoke at a public hearing, it took about one minute for McKinney city staff to recommend approval of a 300-acre rezoning and council members to unanimously vote yes.
Suddenly, an expansion of McKinney National Airport appeared within reach.
“I believe you will be seeing commercial flights in 2026 flying out of TKI,” said Mayor George Fuller.
TKI is the three-letter airport code for McKinney National. Currently, only private planes like corporate jets or recreational pilots use it.
The rezoning of almost 300 acres of city-owned property on the east side of the airport means there is now room for things commercial service requires, like a 1,500-spot parking lot, fuel tanks, a de-icing pad, and—perhaps most importantly—a passenger terminal.
“We've looked at this airport as an economic driver for the region,” said Barry Shelton, McKinney’s assistant city manager.
The city is moving ahead with the expansion even though voters turned it down in 2023. Fuller sees the failure of the bond as a rejection of financing the project, not the project itself.
“I never looked at the bond package as any indictment on the airport itself,” Fuller said. “That vote was, hey, we’re not prepared to spend $300 million with property tax-backed bonds.”
“Everything we’re doing today regarding the airport is absent any sort of property tax-backed bonds.”
Hurdles remain, Fuller admitted. The exact streams of revenue and environmental approvals are still being secured, and a separate council vote will be necessary to begin construction on the passenger terminal.
Fuller expects that to happen in early 2025.
Still, the city is negotiating with “various airlines” about passenger service, Fuller said, and he is confident it will take off soon.