Dive Brief:
- Denver International Airport (DIA) officials have increased the scope of its gate addition plan from 26 to 39 new gates, upping the project total to $1.5 billion, according to The Denver Post.
- The new gates, construction of which should be complete in 2021, will span all three airport concourses and fall in line with the airport's goal of being able to accommodate 80 million passengers a year — up from its current capacity of 50 million — as well as additional airlines and a greater number of routes.
- The airport has submitted four contracts for the gate project to the Denver City Council for approval, and DIA has already hired WSP USA as program manager under a $45 million contract.
Dive Insight:
In August, the city council approved a $1.8 billion public-private partnership (P3) with Spain-based Ferrovial for the $650 million renovation of the airport's Jeppesen Terminal and the accompanying 34-year concession management deal. Airport revenue — not taxpayer money — will pay the Ferrovial-led team $1.2 billion total in capital repayments and concession management fees over the life of the contract.
Not everyone was behind the selection, though. When the Denver City Council said it would enter into a contract with Ferrovial in July 2016, some members of the hotel and airport workers' unions pushed back against that decision. They said the Spanish company was anti-labor, had previous deals go bankrupt and was behind a problem baggage handling system at Heathrow Airport in London.
As part of the Jeppesen overhaul, the terminal's security checkpoints will be moved and modernized. Security-area upgrades are what crews will be tackling first as Reagan National Airport in Arlington, VA, readies for a $245 million, 28-lane security overhaul, all part of a $1 billion remodel. Earlier this month, the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority said it had received proposals for the first phase of the security overhaul, the $163.5 million replacement of checkpoints at terminals A and B.
As part of the new $1.3 billion terminal project at Kansas City (MO) International Airport, crews will add a 12-lane security checkpoint to go along with two new concourses, which will be able to accommodate 35 gates, people-movers, live performance areas and a two-story, animated fountain. As in Denver, the project will not use taxpayer funds. The city council chose Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate to design, build and manage the new terminal, but the voters still need to give the project a green light next month.
