WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced $20 billion in renovations slated for Dulles International Airport near the nation’s capital during a ceremony in the White House on July 29.
Travelers have long complained about navigating Dulles, first opened in 1962 and last renovated between 2000 and 2010.
“It’s an impossible airport. You get off a bus, go to a train, on to another bus,” Trump said during the event. “It’s the worst airport.”
Administration officials accelerated the airport’s existing master plan in a bid to improve logistics at the international hub.
“We’ve addressed it all, and we have a plan that’s going to be phenomenal,” Trump said, noting the design will “preserve the iconic terminal that first made [it] an architectural landmark.”
The new project will total nearly three times the $7 billion slated for investment in prior plans, with funds raised through a combination of bond sales and private-public partnerships.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joined the president for the announcement unveiling conceptual renderings of the project demonstrating new parking areas, concourses, and entryways.
Renovations and new construction will total more than 5 million square feet, with priority given to a massive parking garage that will fit approximately 32,000 vehicles, located close to the check-in and revamped security screening areas.
The president touted the parking plans as a necessary change from the current layout, which requires lengthy walks to reach the terminal.
“Right now you have to walk so far, blocks and blocks to get to the terminal,” Trump said.
“It’s not acceptable.”
Underground walkways and AeroTrains will provide direct access to all areas, eliminating the elevated mobile lounge buses that currently transport passengers from certain concourses to the main terminal.
New concourses with more gates and concessions will replace existing dated facilities, allowing for larger aircraft and expanding international flight opportunities.
Bright spaces designed for work and comfort will replace the dimly lit settings familiar to those who flew in or out of Dulles in recent years.
Those arriving will retrieve their luggage from a newly designed baggage handling system.
Travelers from outside the country will walk to a U.S. Customs facility “designed to deliver an international arrival experience second to none,” according to the Transportation Department.
Improvements are expected to drive billions of dollars in revenue, create thousands of jobs, and increase the number of flights to the airport as more travelers make their way through the nation’s capital.
The transformation is made possible by a collaboration among the Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, and United Airlines.
United is building more of its club spaces for frequent fliers and one of the largest Polaris Lounges worldwide as part of its multi-billion-dollar investment in the upgrades.
“Washington Dulles is the gateway that connects the nation’s capital to the world, and this transformation builds on United’s long-term investment in our hub to deliver the world-class airport experience our employees, customers and millions of travelers deserve,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement.
Additions to Concourse E will open later this year, adding 14 new United gates.
Renovations to the airport are the next chapter in Trump’s vision to beautify the nation’s capital, according to officials.
“To truly achieve this vision, we need to invest in an international gateway that is worthy of the greatest country on earth,” Duffy said in a statement, noting the new design retains the airport’s “iconic” features. “Say goodbye to those stale concourses, endless walkways, and those absurd mobile lounges, and say hello to a state-of-the-art facility that will inspire millions of fliers for generations to come.”
Officials expedited construction timelines, with developments occurring in phases over the next few years.
“We are grateful for the Trump administration’s interest in accelerating the pace and scope of our plans, and we look forward to building new facilities that will be a source of pride for our nation,” Jack Potter, Airports Authority president and CEO, said in a statement.
