New Orleans Airport to add five additional gates and $110 million to current expansion

The replacement and expansion project for the North Terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport has just about reached the midway point in construction. Originally projected to have 30 terminals across 650,000 sf and cost $650,000,000, increased passenger demand has caused all of these numbers to inflate.

According to city officials, the project is adding an additional five gates for $110 million, bringing the total price tag up to about $917 million. The terminal now sits at an estimated 802,000 sf.

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Atkins collaborated on the design for the new terminal, which, despite being designed with 30 gates, allowed for the easy expansion of up to 42 gates, if necessary. Some of the design’s features include a 2,000-space parking garage, Interstate-10 highway connection, retail development, airline ticketing offices, and consolidated security screening.

Construction on the terminal began one year ago and, despite the addition of the five extra gates, the project is still scheduled to open on Oct. 1, 2018. Construction is being led by a joint venture between Hunt Construction, Gibbs Construction, Boh Brothers, and Metro Service Group.

Rendering courtesy of Leo A Daly.

A terminal modernization program can be a complicated and expensive task that airport operators may be hesitant to undertake unless necessitated by demands for increased capacity. This is the first post in our series examining why airport operators should bother to upgrade their facilities, even if capacity isn’t forcing the issue.