Phoenix Sky Harbor is one of America’s busiest airports year in and year out. The airport, nicknamed “America’s Friendliest Airport,” has experienced a large increase in passengers passing through the airport each year. To help ease the traffic on passengers, the Phoenix City Council has approved a project to build a new terminal at Sky Harbor.
The new terminal is being constructed to help ease the rising demand at Sky Harbor, says Arizona’s Family. In 2023, over 48 million passengers passed through the airport, which was the most in the airport’s history. Early reports suggest that the terminal would feature somewhere between 40 to 60 gates. One proposed design features a sky train station in the middle, with gates surrounding it. The terminal is set to be constructed on the west end of the airport, near where the former terminals one and two used to be located before they were demolished in 1990 and 2020. Included with the terminal would be a new concourse in terminal three, and a runway extension. This marks the first major construction at Sky Harbor since 1990.
The terminal will also have a large focus on international travel in and out of Phoenix. Simple Flying states that there have been 22 more international flights per week at Phoenix than there were in 2019. Flights to countries like France, Germany, and the United Kingdom all draw a lot of people to the airport, so the terminal is set to help ease the pains that come with it. The terminal will feature a new customs and immigration facility, as well as having an aim to be net-zero to cut down on the emissions from long-distance flights.
While the idea of a new terminal seems exciting, passengers are going to have to wait a minimum of six years before construction begins. According to KTAR News, the city is going to have to wait before building the terminal due to planning, designing, and environmental preparation, all of which take years to complete. Construction is expected to begin sometime after 2030, and no projected finishing date has yet been released.
Even though the terminal isn’t going to start construction for a while, it isn’t far-fetched to say that it will likely have a large impact on the overall airport experience at Sky Harbor.
