American Airlines and Dallas – Fort Worth (DFW) have announced plans to develop a sixth terminal at the busy hub airport. The new terminal, Terminal F, is slated to open as soon as 2025, the airline said.
Plans call for DFW to invest up to $3 to $3.5 billion in terminal improvements, including the construction of Terminal F and enhancements to Terminal C. The new Terminal F will be set on a site south of Terminal D, which American says will provide significant flexibility for phasing in the number of gates for the new facility. Long-term, Terminal F could hold up to 24 gates as demand for additional facilities is warranted, American said.
Design work for Terminal F will begin immediately. DFW and American will explore several different options for the layout of the Terminal F site, with the details to be finalized as part of a new airline lease agreement for DFW that is being negotiated, the two organizations said. DFW and American anticipate the investment to be financed by bonds and repaid through airline rates and charges over the life of the bonds.
One important aspect of the new terminal’s design, American said, will be the incorporation of new technologies to facilitate the movement of customers, maintain cost efficiencies for airlines and improve operational performance.
DFW and American also said that they plan to significantly improve the customer experience at Terminal C, which is one of the airport’s original terminals that opened in 1974. Plans call for redesigned check-in areas, larger security checkpoints, expanded concessions spaces and improved lighting and flooring. All told the project should bring it in line with Terminals A, B and E, which wrapped renovations in 2018.
DFW welcomed a record 69 million travelers last year, and officials say that it expects more passengers and air service to be added in the next two years than in the past two decades. In 2018, DFW announced 28 new destinations. Customers have access to more than 60 international destinations from the airport, with double the number of European destinations and frequencies since 2015.
Over the past several years, American has expanded with additional DFW service, and by June 2019, the airline will operate more than 900 daily flights from the Airport. In total, customers have access to more than 230 nonstop destinations on American from DFW.
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