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Pittsburgh has unveiled plans for a new $ 1.1 billion renovation that will give the city's resuscitated airport a new passenger terminal.
The new two-storey terminal, scheduled to open in 2023, has a corrugated roof that, according to the designers, is supposed to mimic the undulating hills of the area.
The design of the new terminal was entrusted to architect Luis Vidal, who also designed the recently opened "T2" at London Heathrow Airport.
Pittsburgh officials said the new terminal would speed up passenger travel through the airport by consolidating check-in, ticketing, security and baggage collection into one connected facility. -in, baggage recovery and security. The new terminal will replace the existing "city-side" building, essentially filling an empty area that currently exists between the control areas and the airport entrance.
Departing passengers will pass through the upper level of the new terminal, while arriving passengers will pass through the lower level as they head from their door to claim baggage and exit the airport.
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The airport has released images of the new plan, but said it would "continue to be refined during the next phase of the project …, which is expected to take place in the summer of 2019."
All this is part of a major transformation of the airport, which was revolutionary when it opened in 1992. However, since then, Pittsburgh International has become suboptimal for the modern needs of the city.
The current design was built almost exclusively according to the specifications requested by US Airways, which then used Pittsburgh as a major hub ranking among the busiest in the country. The airport's four airport halls are arranged in the shape of an "X", allowing connecting passengers to be relatively easy to navigate between doors – regardless of which hall they have arrived in. have left the airport.
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In the center of the "X" was Airmall, a similar operation to a mall in the airside terminal. He offered strong food and retail options and promised a "street fare". Although the concept has been widely imitated since then, it was an untested concept for US airports when it debuted in 1992. The new terminal proved to be popular among both local and connected flyers.
But US Airways – now part of American Airlines – experienced financial turmoil from the late 1990s to the 2000s, facing multiple bankruptcies as part of a protracted struggle for survival. In 2004, US Airways had officially "dislodged" Pittsburgh, the first change in a decade to downsize, reducing the number of scheduled flights at the airport.
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A sharp drop in the number of passengers followed, resulting in difficult times for the airport. Local officials even mulled the ends of some of the halls as the number of passengers declined, saving the airport money by closing public services at the shutter doors.
The Pittsburgh Airport has found new momentum in this decade, from the hub that once was to an airport now focused on "local" traffic specifically serving Pittsburgh or coming from Pittsburgh.
Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant low-cost carriers have expanded to Pittsburgh, while Southwest has strengthened its presence in the region. Other new carriers include Alaska Airlines, which now flies to Seattle non-stop.
The airport has also benefited from the leadership of the new and ambitious CEO, Christina Cassotis, who has managed to make him something braggart.
Now, the new terminal would continue the momentum of Pittsburgh, the airport passing from one hub to another for local passengers.
"We want to build an airport in Pittsburgh. We've seen what a US Airways airport looks like, "Cassotis told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper after the new plans were unveiled.
"This is really the last piece of the Pittsburgh revival puzzle," she added to the newspaper, which read as follows: "A US Airways Plus Airport" A New Vision for "Pittsburgh Airport" Unveiled . "
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Read or share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2019/02/20/pittsburgh-airport-sleek-new-terminal-continues-resurgance/2929825002/
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