The snow removal team at Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) is nationally recognized as one of the best in the business, with impressive credentials including 10 Balchen/Post Awards for excellence in snow and ice control. When a historic blizzard tested the team's mettle this past December, it rose to the challenge in dramatic fashion.
Christmas came a little early at Memphis International (MEM) in Tennessee. The nation's busiest cargo handling airport opened a centralized deicing facility (CDF) on Nov. 15, 2022, just in time for the busy holiday shipping and travel season.
A comprehensive $60 million makeover at Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) has streamlined operations and made travel easier for passengers. Key components included consolidating ticketing and security screening areas, merging two terminals into one, expanding baggage claim facilities and adding entrances to parking facilities to periodically reduce traffic jams outside the terminal.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) is in the early stages of a long-term capacity enhancement program to address three decades of growth and prepare for the future. When the existing terminal opened in 1982, CLT served 2.7 million local customers; in 2019, it served more than four times as many out of the same footprint.
Vancouver International Airport (YVR) opened its Pier D expansion in June 2022, adding eight new international wide-body departure gates. From a practical standpoint, the project was Vancouver Airport Authority's way of keeping pace with growth in international traffic.
In September, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) completed a $153 million modernization program in Terminal 2 to catch up with years of significant growth in passenger traffic. Recent changes at the South Florida airport increase the main building's capacity by 33,000 square feet, including a 45-foot vertical expansion in new airside court.
The new 9-acre structure will help double the square footage inside the terminal and includes 2.5 million board feet of Douglas fir lumber, with curves supported by glulam (glue-laminated) beams. Beams for the roof were manufactured offsite and then assembled on the airfield less than a mile from the main terminal, allowing the building to remain 100% operational throughout the process.
Denver International Airport (DEN) is moving full speed ahead with Vision 100, its strategic plan to serve 100 million annual passengers within the next 10 years. Phase 1 of the $2.3 billion gate expansion portion is currently underway in four concourses. In total, the expansion will add 39 new gates and increase the airport's overall capacity by 30%.
The state of Hawaii has a second permanent international entry point with the $58.7 million Federal Inspection Station completed at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport (KOA) last fall. The new facility replaces a temporary facility that federal officials said needed to be replaced if the airport wanted to accommodate a steady stream of scheduled international traffic.
Concourse G at Minneapolis'St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is bigger and better, thanks to a comprehensive expansion and modernization project that is nearly complete. The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which owns and operates MSP and its relievers, invested $84 million to add a 50,000-square-foot expansion and modernize passenger amenities. Delta Air Lines, its project partner and sole carrier in the concourse, installed updated interior elements such as seating and service counters.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is reimagining what is possible for terminal construction with four rebuilt gates that opened in June. Known as the 'High C Gates,' C35 to 39 were constructed landside, transported across the tarmac and placed precisely on new columns in Terminal C, where crews completed the inside finishes.
With an eye on the present and the future, Will Rogers World Airport (OKC) in Oklahoma City recently added a new East Concourse. Key objectives for the project were twofold: increasing current capacity for passenger screening and planning ahead for more growth in the terminal.
