This U.S.A. Today article does a nice job of reporting on the opening later this week of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport’s massive new international Terminal D, a $1.4 billion, 28-gate terminal that includes a Grand Hyatt Hotel and the latest features designed to move passengers with comfortable efficiency.
However, as the article points out, whether the new terminal is actually needed is far from a settled issue. The Terminal D project is part of a massive $2.7 billion airport expansion that is the biggest Texas airport construction project ever, and the tenant airlines’ cost per passenger will nearly double when the terminal opens. Although that’s about an average increase in comparison with other increases resulting from recent terminal construction projects at major airports, it’s still no bargain.
If that’s not enough, the new terminal is opening at a time in which DFW has an excess-capacity problem. When construction started five years ago, but now 19 of 37 gates in DFW’s terminal E are empty, and more will be emptied when some remaining carriers there move into the new Terminal D. Even though airlines will use nearly all of terminal D’s gates when it opens, the terminal will initially operate at only about 50% of capacity.
All of which makes me very appreciative of Houston’s relatively efficient and far less costly airports.