LAX has a lot of construction projects underway, but the upgrades just keep coming. A new, $900-million terminal has been approved to help the airport accommodate more "wide-body" planes and their passengers by increasing the number of gates that serve those big boys. The LA Times reports that the 11-gate terminal will be built on the northern part of a midfield concourse, to the west of the Tom Bradley International Terminal (which is getting its own overhaul to accommodate large planes). Right now, LAX just doesn't have enough spots that can serve huge jetliners, so many times, they have to land at the airport's "remote gates," where passengers disembark onto the ground and are then shuttled by bus as much as a mile and a half away to the terminals at Tom Bradley to get their bags and go through customs. This new terminal, when built, would eventually include a link to the planned people mover, as well as a tunnel that would eliminate the need for bussing and the remote gates. (However, there will be some time after the terminal's built but before the people mover's running when bussing will still be required.) There's also a southern section of this project in the planning stages, but nothing much has been said about it except that, when it's done, there will be a total of 29 new gates in the terminal.
· Planned LAX terminal will provide more room for wide-body jetliners [LAT]
· LAX Archives [Curbed LA]
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