Some of the nation’s largest and busiest airports are undertaking major renovation projects, funded in part by billions of dollars from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Among the recipients in the latest round of $289 million in federal funding announced July 1 was Hollywood Burbank Airport in California, which received $8.2 million to help fund the third phase of construction for a new terminal building.
Another $1 billion in funding will be available in 2025 for the Airport Terminal Program, also part of the federal infrastructure law. Meanwhile, several other airport terminal improvement projects are underway, including some scheduled for completion in 2024 or 2025.
These include:
Portland International Airport recently unveiled the first phase of its new main terminal building, part of a $2.2-billion project. Travelers can now utilize new check-in areas, improved security checkpoints (which don’t require travelers to remove items from their bags), and added public spaces and dining options. Phase two of the project, which will add more dining, shopping and lounges to the east and west ends of the airport, will be completed in 2026.
- The new, 811,000-sq.-ft. terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport is set to debut in 2025. The $1.4-billion facility, intended to cut the time needed to transit from the doorway to gates in half, will include more efficient ticketing stations, security checkpoints and baggage claim systems. Dining and shopping choices also will be increased.
- Los Angeles International Airport is entering the final phase of a $30-billion overhaul, which will focus on the modernization of the airport’s terminals 4 and 5. A centerpiece of the project is the addition of an automated people-mover that will serve all of the airport’s terminals and is expected to open later this year or early 2025. A consolidated rental car facility, which will be connected to the people-mover system, also will open soon, according to airport officials.
- Salt Lake City International Airport is expected to cut the ribbon on the second and final phase of its completely new facility this year when several new concourses and gates will open. The first phase, completed in 2020, included a new terminal building with two concourses and also added a parking garage.
- Denver International Airport’s main terminal building will be enhanced with new ticketing areas, security checkpoints and meet-and-greet areas in the final phase of the Great Hall improvement project, set for completion in 2027. New security checkpoints in the airport’s Great Hall opened in February 2024, the most recently completed phase of the project.
- Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport’s new, $1.3-billion Mickey Leland International Terminal, located at Terminal E, is set to fully open in early 2025. Some lounge, concessions and parking components of the new terminal have already opened.
- Missoula International Airport is in the midst of a multi-phase expansion project with South Concourse already completed and serving as the official opening of the airport’s new facility. This phase included a new and expanded ticketing, screening and boarding experience for passengers. The current phase of construction (Phase 2/3) will expand baggage claim, rental car counters, concessions and passenger gates. Estimated completion for Phases 2 & 3 is expected in May 2025.
Other major airport projects on the horizon include:
- John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York will spend $4.2 billion on a new terminal to take the place of the existing Terminals 6 and 7. The new Terminal 6 will include 10 gates, half of which will open in 2026 and the rest in 2028. Also set to debut in 2026 is the airport’s new Terminal 1, with 26 new gates.
- San Francisco International Airport just broke ground on a $2.6-billion modernization of Terminal 3, which will include adding 200,000 sq. ft. of new terminal space and other enhancements starting in 2027. Automated bag drops, new security checkpoints, lounges and check-in lobby will come in 2028 and 2029.
- San Antonio International Airport’s $2.5-billion expansion project, which will double the capacity of the airport, is expected to be completed in 2028. Up to 17 gates and 850,000 sq. ft. of new terminal space will be added.
- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport’s $1.6-billion Terminal F expansion and the $2.7-billion reconstruction of Terminal C have projected completion dates of 2026 and 2028, respectively.
- Hollywood Burbank Airport will use its new federal grant money as part of a project to completely replace its existing passenger terminal. The new 33,000-sq.-ft. facility is expected to open its doors by October 2026.
- O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 3 is getting a $200-million makeover that will add more space for passengers, streamlined security operations and new concessions. The projected completion date for this project is 2027.
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