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Fly thru new $1.3 billion concourse at LAX (VIDEO)

The new satellite concourse at LAX (Image: YouTube/LAWA)

The new satellite concourse at LAX (Image: YouTube/LAWA)

Sometimes it seems like Los Angeles International Airport is just one long, continuous construction project. And now passengers have another big expansion job to look forward to.

The city’s Board of Airport Commissioners has just given the green light to funding the construction of a $1.3 billion Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) as an addition to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The first phase of the MSC will be a 12-gate facility located to the west of the TBIT and connected to it by a 1,000-foot-long passenger tunnel. It’s expected to become operational late in 2019.

The new satellite concourse is just wwest of the Bradley Terminal. (Image: Los Angeles World Airports)

The new satellite concourse is just wwest of the Bradley Terminal. (Image: Los Angeles World Airports)

Work has already started on the site of the new concourse with the demolition of a pair of old hangars. The airports authority said a second phase will bring additional gates to the south end of the new concourse. Meanwhile, the airports body has also approved funding of a related Baggage Optimization Project, which will improve baggage handling capacity at both the new concourse and the TBIT.

Here’s a video fly-through look at the project:

Officials said the new MSC will include two gates capable of accommodating extra-large intercontinental aircraft like the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8. The other gates will be designed to handle smaller widebodies like the 777, 787 and A330. The concourse will also feature a variety of retail and dining venues and will have room for new airline lounges.

Los Angeles World Airports has a page of FAQs about the new concourse project. You can see it here.

A tunnel will link the new concourse to the Bradley Terminal. (Image: Los Angeles World Airports)

A tunnel will link the new concourse to the Bradley Terminal. (Image: Los Angeles World Airports)

The new MSC is just one part of the ongoing development projects at LAX. The airport and Delta also recently announced a seven-year, $1.9 billion overhaul of Terminals 2 and 3 so Delta can move there from Terminals 5 and 6. And the airport is also planning to construct a big automated people mover system  that will link all the terminals with a new intermodal facility that should allow more travelers to use mass transportation to get to and from LAX.

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Comments

  1. Still looks 3rd world/rate to me. Just an industrial park buildings with a few curves and a tunnel.

  2. I think that the remote stands stay as emergency overflow but that otherwise bus gates get the old bye-bye. More importantly the “eagles nest” and other remote RJ busing is supposed to be done for good.

  3. Am I the only person who finds LAWA/LAX’s total transparency on projects amazing? No other airport provides so much open access to planning and contraction documents. It’s an aviation geek’s nirvana!

  4. SEA is breaking ground in a few months on a bridge over the tarmac, with “stunning views of Mt Rainier” and the airfield. However, it will only be accessible to arriving international passengers (the entire bridge will be a sterile pathway to the immigration hall).

  5. The bridge would have been high enough to clear any taxing aircraft. Would have also been an amazing place to spot planes. I’m very disappointed that it’s been replaced by a tunnel.

  6. I had seen a online model that initially called for a bridge to the mid-field 12 gate terminal from Tom Bradley Terminal, but it appears that engineers have come up with the tunnel that would likely not affect the taxing aircraft. LAX, like SFO will become less of a “Winchester Mystery Airport” when all is said and done. I have always loved to plane spot when at LAX, go up to John Travolta’s Theme restaurant and so on. Smallest elevators in the world. At SFO, it appears from renderings seen online that United Terminal 3 West closest gates to Boarding Area G will undergo construction for widening, and my guess is like Terminal 1, will also house a few more international gates, but that is just my guess as international flights just keep growing at SFO. Oakland will have the first nonstopers on Norwegian to Barcelona next year. And, British Airways will serve Oakland to Gatwick next year as well. Amazing, that British Airways will serve three Bay Area Airports. Only Volaris now does that. I would not be surprised if Aero Mexico establishes service out of Oakland and San Jose as well. Much happening in aviation world in the west. Fun for us plane spotters 🙂

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