DFW Airport has unveiled plans for terminal renovation and construction projects to take place over the next few months. Those plans include the renovation of the Terminal E Satellite building and gate conversions for gates in the Terminal B concourse, all in an effort to accommodate the projected growth of American Airlines at DFW.
American Airlines has already embarked on a project to renovate the Terminal E Satellite, reconfiguring it from 9 mainline jet gates to 15 regional jet gates. American plans to move some of its American Eagle operations currently located in Terminal B to the E Satellite upon completion of the project next spring, mainly the smaller 45-50 seat aircraft.
The DFW Airport Board recently approved up to $20 million in reimbursement costs for American, which will oversee the renovation construction project in the Terminal E Satellite. DFW projects more than 2 million passengers per year will use the Terminal E Satellite once the renovation takes place.
At the same time, American is planning to reconfigure 9 regional jet gates currently located in Terminal B into six mainline jet gates. The Board approved $26 million for that project, which will provide American more gates for its larger aircraft. The converted gates will be located from B5 through B12.
Those two projects will add a total of three gates and allow for more efficient usage of those gates overall, giving DFW Airport more capacity to grow as air service demand increases.
Currently, DFW hosts over 67 million customers a year, and projections show DFW could grow to over 73 million customers next year, an increase of more than five percent.