Five years’ worth of construction at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has finished, leaving behind improvements that officials say will help the facility handle more passengers, especially the annual holiday influx that is about to begin.
“We have expanded customer parking, added aircraft gates, introduced new concessions and ensured our place as a convenient and efficient airport,” said Timothy Campbell, executive director of the Maryland Aviation Administration.
On Tuesday, airport executives and state officials marked the end of the $1.4 billion endeavor, the last portion of which involved improvements to the terminal roadway, the curbside area and skyway.
That project added vehicle lanes leading to and from the terminal, enlarged the passenger drop-off and pick-up area, added a moving walkway to the skywalk and installed new elevators and escalators.
“As we celebrate the end of the major expansion program, we recognize that this is a new and improved world-class airport,” Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich said.
Over the past few years, work on other improvements finished, such as a new terminal that serves half of the airport’s passengers, a daily parking garage with 8,400 spaces and a computerized system to help drivers find an open spot, and a new rental car facility.
Airport officials say they hope the improvements will build on the qualities that put BWI in third place on this year’s J.D. Power and Associates’ customer-satisfaction survey of medium-sized airports.
“The BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport of today is a modern, state-of-the-art international airport that will accommodate further growth,” Campbell said.
The construction projects added 11 gates and 500,000 square feet of terminal space to BWI.
Mexicana, the top U.S.-to-Mexico carrier, today started daily, non-stop service between BWI and Mexico City International Airport.
