Dive Brief:

• Salt Lake City International Airport officials have announced plans to build a $740 million concourse in addition to the $1.86 billion terminal-concourse project already underway, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
• City and airport officials gave the go-ahead on the additional work when they found out that planned upgrades on its current facilities were more extensive and costly than anticipated.
• The entire project, which is scheduled for completion in 2020, is being funded by revenue bonds, airline passenger taxes and rental car taxes. With the new addition, the total project will now cost $2.6 billion.

Dive Insight:

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said at a press conference that the new concourse was necessary if the city wanted to attract more business in tourism. The current airport handles approximately 22 million passengers every year, twice the number for which it was designed.

There are several massive airport construction projects underway across the U.S. In March, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport officials announced they would begin construction on a $393 million terminal, expected to be complete in 2018, and a $943 million runway, expected to be complete by 2034. The two projects are part of a $6 billion, 20-year renovation.

The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is also getting an $807 million facelift courtesy of a new terminal to replace the current one built in 1959. Hunt-Gibbs-Boh-Metro is the joint venture managing $598 million of construction work, which is being financed by general airport revenue bonds, government grants and capital funds. When complete, the airport will feature two new concourses with a total of 30 gates. The Hunt-led joint venture said it committed to using 33% disadvantaged business enterprises on the project.