Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport – CHO

Love little airports. My time from check-​in/​security/​gate was seriously 5 minutes. Free Wi-​Fi! No TSA Pre-​check here though.

TINY airport! TINY! Small planes only! And only bar or food option. No outlets on the second floor where the American Eagle gate is, but there are charging stations (with desks) on the bottom floor! Not a bad place to wait for a plane (great view!)!

I had a very shaky start to my 2016 this morning. My dog and I were headed up an escalator to our gate this morning when the escalator split her paw open. Lucky for us, Katie from the gift shop, Amanda from the restaurant, and an EMT named Ross came to our rescue. They helped me clean up the blood, brought a first aid kit and supplies, even offered to take us to an emergency vet if needed. They were a blessing! How fortune we were to be surrounded by kind, hospitable, calm people. I sincerely hope this message reaches them! Georgie had sutures done on her paw and should recover just fine. Thank you, thank you!!!

I have had good experiences with This airport. It is very clean and small. Out of the 6 times I’ve flown in and out of this airport my flights have all been on time.
CHO is very well marked and easy to navigate. Checked luggage arrives very shortly after landing. The restrooms are very clean. The pick up area is well marked which makes for an easy pick up experience.

This used to be a 5 star airport. With their «improvements» it’s now 1. This is the 1^st time the main parking lot was full. There was room in the overflow, but they’ve made it a real pain to get to. The gift/​food shop used to have numerous items like Gearhart chocolate. With the new concession, there are no gifrs, no local products, no Coca-​Cola products. Only Pepsi. There used to be good sandwiches. Now there are the normal airport subs which are 80% bread and expensive to boot. The concession people were nice but clueless about airport procedures. They told us that there was a Coke machine «outside TSA» but also that it was broken. A real step down.

CHO is easy to get to. Easy to navigate in and out of parking lot. CHO isn’t very big so it is super easy to get to your gate after going through security which is also a breeze. Staff there have all been very nice each time we have gone there. Highly recommend flying out of CHO!

The last few times I’ve been here I have enjoyed my experience. The airport is small, clean, and well lighted. The check in is pretty painless and quick. I actually prefer to fly out of here, rather than RIC, IAD, DCA, etc. because it has taken me under 20 minutes every time. Furthermore, their security does not rush you along through check in and you’re able to get through rather calmly.
The customer service at each individual check in point has been decent but not great. The last time I was flying out and looking for the right check in point, the one employee at the counter seemed disinterested in helping. While it may have been an off day, it was still a bit frustrating. Despite that experience I’ve been back since and have received great service from other employees.
I really appreciate CHO because of how efficient its been.

Oh I love this airport! The security guy looking at our carry ons through that xray machine was super friendly! He made a joke :) He also told me where the water filter station was, seeing that I was from California and «we don’t have a lot of water here». I love clean filtered water: D
And an airport with a water filter! It’s awesomeeeee :) Are all people in the south this nice? It’s great.

Nice small and easy access airport that has american… united…usairways…and delta… quick security checks… never any lines… worth it!

A small regional airport with 5 gates served by Delta, United, American/​US Air. There’s only one jetbridge so the rest of the time, you are using the plane’s steps to get on and off the plane (keep in mind for your shoe choices, ladies).
Arrivals:
efficient baggage service in the same area where you get the keys for your car rental, short walk to on site car rental parking lot.
Departures: TSA precheck can keep shoes on, small shop past security that sells gifts, food items, drinks, etc.
As others have noted, the staffing here seems light so even though you may not need a lot of time at the airport, just be aware that at peak times you won’t breeze through baggage check and security just because there are way more passengers than employees.

If an airport could be called lovely, this little commuter airport would be the one to fit that description. Even more so with the huge, elaborately decorated Christmas tree. Most of the planes coming in here are prop planes. I was not warned about this, but the planes are parked on the tarmac and you have to climb steep stairs to get on and off the plane. This was very difficult for me due to a recent rupture of my Achilles tendons and I am sure that anyone with mobility disabilities would find this difficult.
There is only one place to get food past the small TSA inspection point and only one baggage claim area. The two car rental counters are adjacent to the baggage claim area. There are only two ticket counters, US Airways and United.
Overall, a compact, pleasant little airport, but be forewarned that you will probably be on a prop plane instead of a jet and that you will need to climb some tricky stairs.

It’s one of those small airports, nothing fancy. I got delayed only too many times to like it. But it usually has nothing to do with the staff really. People here are great! hmmm, actually I might as well throw a good review, marking a phone safely returned from lost and found.

I love small airports, and CHO is a shining example of that. So simple, so easy. No jetways — just walk right up to your tiny plane (that’s a different matter).
There’s only one place to grab food/​coffee, but it’ll do. I don’t think anyone comes here (or should come here) with expectations of food options a la O’Hare or JFK.
One complaint is that, because it’s so small, there are very few staff, which may make security lines a bit longer than they need to be — so, a 15 minute line instead of 5. Deal with it. Same issue with rental car pick-​up — there can be a rush when a flight lands and there is only one rental car agent. Again, not going to kill anyone. Just smile and be thankful you aren’t sandwiched among the masses at Dulles.

Rush hour, 25 people in line, 0 staff at desk, 30min pass without staff, 10 ppl missed flights bc of lack of staff, 2^nd day in a row flight was canceled… Excited for round #3. Flight will probably be canceled again, but I’m always eager to see USAirways fail at customer service harder than the previous times.
Drive an extra hour to Richmond or 2h to Dulles. Would have saved me 2 days of fight delays.

I was legitimately surprised at the positive reviews of this airport because my experience here was completely awful. Oh well, I’ll let you decide for yourself.
I was flying back to my hometown from a trip to Staunton for family purposes. My flight was at 6:40 so I had to wake up at 4:40 and I was still pretty exhausted. Well, I arrived at the airport around 6:13 and, since I was only 27 minutes before takeoff, the self check-​in would not check me in because it needs 30 minutes prior to takeoff. No big deal, I could just go to the ticket counter. But no– there is only one American Airlines agent in the entire airport and she is not at the ticket desk 27 minutes before the flight either. However, I knew that, since American Airlines was merging with us airways, the us airways agent should be able to check me in. Nope– she couldn’t help me and was quite rude about it when I asked.
I waited for 3 hours and no agent showed up. In fact, for two hours, there wasn’t a single agent behind the ticket desk. I waited so long that I was able to actually get through with an AA agent on the phone despite the 2.5 hour hold and I still only was able to book a late flight.
However, finally, a man and a woman who were clearly also frustrated with the rest of the staff helped me out and booked me on an earlier flight. So I guess everything worked out in the end despite the wasted time and the immense frustration.

This is a small, simple airport. It won’t take you more than 10 minutes to walk the entire place. It took only a few minutes to get through security. I am not sure if we just had a good timing, or it was normally like this.
When we did get here, I was starving. I was hoping to buy a snack here, while we waited until it was take off time. Their one convenience store was not very vegetarian-​friendly.
There were chips and what not. However, their pre-​made sandwiches and veggie packages all had meat. I ended up buying some cut up apples to make it through until the next airport.

I realize I am writing a completely contrary review to the majority here, but my experience may provide a balancing perspective. It is a long story, taking place over many years. I am not a typical patron, either. I fly both my own small General Aviation aircraft (4-​seat spam can) and commercial airlines. My review is applicable to both modes of transportation, and led me to take my business elsewhere.
Most recently (this past winter) I took the family on a trip via commercial airlines. The specific airline is immaterial, since it was the weather at CHO that forced cancellation of all flights. Due to the airport’s size, location, and traveling during the winter, I had suspicion I would have been better off originating through Dulles or Richmond. My hypothesis was proven correct.
So we were stranded at Dulles on a Sunday night, and I later found out we could not get a flight into CHO for two days! From Dulles! So off to get a one-​way car rental instead of my own car. What made it worse was when I dropped off the one-​way car rental at CHO, the clerk charged me double what I understood was the agreed rate when I left Dulles. The clerk, polite but most unhelpfully stated I had to take my issue up with corporate since there was nothing she could do from her desk at CHO. So why is there even a rep at CHO for drop off? That’s a job ripe for automation.
Not worth the risk of getting stranded in Richmond or Dulles in the event of bad weather, better to just drive the 1.5 — 2 hours.
As a GA pilot, over the years, it was very clear to me the FBO wasn’t interested in anything that didn’t burn jet fuel. When we relocated from the DC area, I made inquiries about basing my aircraft at CHO, but again since I didn’t burn jet fuel, I probably would have had to water-​board the customer service reps to get any answers. Thus, I based on the other side of the mountain at SHD.
In discussions with some of the folks over there, when I asked how they keep their operation running; they replied that CHO was their best marketing tool. The lack of interest in helping anyone but the 1%-ers drove business right onto their ramp.
On the positive side, as almost every reviewer has stated, security is probably the most friendly and stress-​free of any airport I have flown through commercially. So the best part of my CHO experience is due to a Federal Government agency that is generally held in low esteem.
If I need to actually get somewhere and home again when I expect without 3 connections, I will suck up the drive to Dulles or Richmond.

What an adorable little country airport! The rental car counters are about 10 feet away from the baggage claim, there are nonexistent lines at security, and you can connect to almost any other major airport that you want. What more could you want? I’ll tell you… floor to ceiling windows and rocking chairs to sit in… that’s what! It doesn’t get more southern than this. Sooo relaxing. The only thing that would make it better would be if they had a better food option.

Super easy airport.
There was absolutely NO line at security. It was like the old days when you could show up to the airport an hour before your flight and still have plenty of time to get to your plane.
They also have this really cool water fountain where you can fill up your water bottle or container… so bring an empty water bottle and fill’er up! First one I’ve seen. Hopefully, it’ll become the norm. Way to go CHO!
I posted the picture of it on Unilocal.Hopefully, we’ll be seeing a lot of these kinds of water fountains everywhere real soon! Thank you CHO for being a trendsetter!
You want more? OK, here it is: they have a bunch a rocking chairs you can sit in while you’re waiting for your plane. You won’t even mind if your plane is a little late!

Cute little airport with pretty tight security, which is a pain in the butt because people come from here to go to bigger airports or other tiny airports.
It was nice that I could get to the airport 45 minutes before my flight and not worry about getting on it.
I would not want to be stuck here but Charlottesville is so close and it’s easy to rent a car here.