Complaining about airports may be a national pastime, but several major hubs around the country and abroad are touting recent and planned upgrades aimed at improving the air travel experience.
Here are few of the biggest airport expansion projects planned in the U.S.
In September, O’Hare completed a 16-year, $6 billion investment called the O’Hare Modernization Program, which reconfigured the runway system to increase capacity. In addition, the Airport Transit System reopened last fall, connecting airport terminals and the Multi-Modal Facility used for rental cars, parking, buses and the Metra.
That work is part of an $8.5 billion project called O’Hare 21, a far-reaching program that will expand terminals 5 and 3 and create a new Global Terminal that will more than double the space of the existing Terminal 2; a completion date has not yet been announced.
The airport’s Great Hall is in the midst of major upgrade. Phase 1, which is currently in the works, includes new ticketing areas for United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, and a widened balcony will have four new restrooms.
Phase 2, which is also underway, is adding a new security checkpoint on Level 6; it’s scheduled to be complete in early 2024. The final phase of the Great Hall refurbishment will bring additional upgrades; a final completion date has yet to be announced.
Last year, DFW opened Terminal D South, a four-gate extension of Terminal D that includes easier-to-read signage and new food and beverage outlets.
Construction is underway at Terminal E in Houston in preparation for a new international terminal. Completion is scheduled for 2024.
For now, the construction means that passengers departing from Terminal E must check in and pass through TSA security checkpoints at Terminal B, C or D, and the airport’s parking, rental car and hotel shuttles are operating only from Terminals A, B, C and D.
Upgrades to Know at Airports Abroad
Among the destinations touting major improvements outside the U.S. is Mexico City, which in March is to open Felipe Angeles International Airport, a brand-new facility in the State of Mexico (although it’s expected to only field domestic flights for the time being).
Singapore Changi Airport, meanwhile, is to add nearly 167,000 square feet to its Terminal 2 facility by 2024. Across the Atlantic, Frankfurt Airport in Germany is constructing a new Terminal 3 that will be able to process up to 19 million passengers a year when it opens by 2026.
LAX’s Landside Modernization Program includes the construction of a 2.25-mile automated people mover that will open in 2023 to transport passengers between the Central Terminal Area and new off-site parking facilities, regional light rail transportation and the Consolidated Rent-A-Car facility, which is also to open next year.
Approximately $2.7 billion is being pumped into a redevelopment program that will replace Newark’s Terminal A with a new 33-gate building; a grand opening is scheduled for this spring with full completion set for later this year.
Among the ambitious plans to remake John F. Kennedy International Airport is a $1.5 billion expansion and modernization of Terminal 4, which will include the addition of 10 new gates, a renovation of existing concourses and roadway upgrades; completion is slated for 2023.
The New Terminal One is scheduled to debut in 2026.
Credit: 2022 Port Authority of NY and NJAlso scheduled for completion next year is an expanded Terminal 8, which will add 70,400 square feet of space including five new wide-body gates. A completion date has not yet been announced for a revamped Terminal 6, which will transform JetBlue’s home base into a 1.15-million-square-foot facility with a new ground transportation center. Scheduled to debut in 2026, meanwhile, is what’s called the New Terminal One, a new, 2.4-million-square-foot terminal that will replace the existing Terminal 1.
Final work on the brand-new Terminal B at LaGuardia will officially wrap up in phases throughout 2022. The $4 billion new terminal features tall ceilings and spacious public areas with lots of natural light.
Phase one of the $3.82 billion, multi-year South Terminal Complex project at Orlando International Airport is to be completed in the first quarter of this year. The latest work will add 15 gates and an Intermodal Terminal Facility to link with rail systems including Brightline service to South Florida.
The South Terminal Complex is slated to launch its first phase in 2022.
Credit: 2022 Visit OrlandoThe “new SLC” airport in Utah debuted its first phase in 2020 with a new parking garage, terminal and west end of two concourses. The second phase, which includes new concourses and gates, is to be completed in 2024.
San Francisco’s airport’s International Terminal is in the process of doubling its capacity at the security screening checkpoint this year; refurbished restrooms and lounge furnishings are also in the works. In addition, Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which opened in 2019, is to debut an updated North Ticketing Lobby in late 2024.
Sea-Tac recently opened a revamped N Concourse with capacity upped from 12 to 20 gates, while the new International Arrivals Facility, scheduled to open early this year, features a 450,000-square-foot Grand Hall used for baggage claim and customs processing.
