Airports: New LAX terminal, Coke at DFW, ORD upgrade, MSP beer

In airport news this week, a big overhaul of Los Angeles International’s Terminal 2 has been finished; Dallas/Ft. Worth unveils new retail concessions and providers; Chicago O’Hare’s big new capital improvements plan includes yet another runway; and Minneapolis-St. Paul International has a big treat in store for lovers of craft beer.

Airport terminal design specialist Westfield Corp. said this week it has wrapped up a $78 million transformation of Los Angeles International’s Terminal 2, giving the facility 16 new retail and dining outlets – the first big upgrade of T2 in 30 years. Among the new offerings are the SeaLegs Wine Bar, serving up California share plates with paired wines; Slapfish, a seafood restaurant; Chinese cuisine at Pick Up Stix; organic sandwiches and salads at Ciabatta Bar; custom-made burgers at Built; an “American roadhouse” diner called Barney’s Beanery; a pair of Starbucks stores; a Spanx retail outlet; a duty-free shop called DFS; a pair of electronics stores; and a Fresh Brothers Pizza outlet. The terminal also got renovated bathrooms, new lighting and new gate information displays.

The Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport Board this week signed off on some new concession deals. The headline: From now on, it’s “No Pepsi – Coke!” The board signed a 10-year contract that will put Coca-Cola beverage brands through the airport, ending its 20-year arrangement with Pepsi. In other food & beverage news, the board OKd a new Maggiano’s Little Italy Italian restaurant that should open in Terminal C near Gate C16 by year’s end, as well as a new Rodeo Bar for Terminal B near Gate B31. Other new concessions coming to DFW include a Belgium Beer Café in Terminal C, a snack kiosk in Terminal B, and what will be the airport’s third 7-Eleven store, this one in Terminal D.

Chicago city officials this week unveiled a huge infrastructure improvement plan for O’Hare Airport, including construction of a sixth parallel runway. That runway will eat up almost $650 million of the total project’s $1.3 billion budget. The multi-year effort will also give O’Hare a new centralized de-icing facility – something that officials said will improve gate utilization and terminal capacity and end the need for secondary de-icing of departing flights. Also in the works: a cross-field taxiway network linking the north and south sides of the airport, which should reduce taxi time for arriving aircraft. The new runway – to be finished in 2020 — will be O’Hare’s second-longest at 11,245 feet, and will “balance the capacity of the north airfield with that of the south airfield, providing increased flexibility for east and west flow operations,” an airport spokesman said. Officials noted that these airfield improvements will pave the way for additional enhancements, including (much needed) increase in the number of aircraft gates and modernization of passenger terminals.

Beer lovers who fly through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are in for a treat: The former Chili’s restaurant there is being converted into a new craft beer bar and restaurant, due to open this summer under the supervision of the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild. The official (and rather odd) name of the facility will be “Stone Arch.food.CRAFT.beer.” It will have 20 craft beers on tap at the bar, and five more available in a “Craft Lab” staffed by beer experts, if you really want the lowdown on your brews. Also part of the project are a 112-seat restaurant and a carry-out market.

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