Tomorrow morning will mark a major milestone for Pittsburgh’s aviation history as the new terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport will open for business after years of anticipation.Â
When the sun goes down tonight, crews will be doing some final work to make sure everything is ready to go as they make the switch from the existing airside terminal to the new $1.7 billion terminal.Â
At 7:30 p.m., the final international flight coming into Pittsburgh will touch down and crews will then begin the switchover process, which is expected to take several hours.
By 9:30 p.m., bags will circle around the current outbound baggage belts for the final time with the last group of passengers going through the existing security checkpoint and take the final ride on the tram that connects the existing airside and landside terminals.
Early tomorrow morning, the tram will be deactivated, the existing security checkpoints will be closed, and the new public roadways will open for travel to the new terminal.Â
People boarding a 5:30 a.m. flight to Denver, Colorado on Southwest Airlines tomorrow morning will be among the first travelers to get to experience the new terminal.Â
What’s the experience of the new terminal going to be like?
When Pittsburgh International Airport’s new, $1.7 billion terminal opens on Tuesday, there will be a much different experience than those who frequent the current airport are used to.Â
When you get dropped off on the departing flights level of the new terminal, you’ll walk through the doors and into the cavernous terminal that almost appears to be starlit.
Immediately to your left and right are the ticketing counters for all the airlines. This is where, as you do today, you can check in for your flight and check your luggage.
From there, it’s back to the center and the short walk to the security checkpoint, which will now feature 12 lanes, instead of the combined seven at the existing terminal.
The security screening checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport’s new terminal will feature five more lanes than in the current operation and will feature new equipment to help move passengers an travelers through the checkpoint more quickly.
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The separations for each lane are clearly marked and the queueing is adjustable based on the number of passengers headed for flights.
The new security equipment eliminates many of the previous inconveniences for passengers and travelers like taking your shoes off.Â
Once on the other side of the security checkpoint, there will no longer be the need to get on the tram from landside to airside. It’s straight ahead to the bridge tunnel, which takes you to all the gates of the existing airside terminal.Â
Arriving passengers will enter the new terminal from the airside concourses, past some new indoor landscaping, and directly into the baggage claim area, emerging into the much larger, clearly marked baggage carousels and out to your waiting ride or shuttle to the parking lot.
Pittsburgh International Airport’s new baggage claim area will feature a new state-of-the-art handling system and luggage will travel three miles less than it does in the current system.
Jessica Riley / KDKA
Passengers going to the terminal garage or terminal surface lot will have to go down one level to those walkways.
The new configuration appears to be more user friendly, just by eliminating the train from one terminal the other and with that, the elimination of several miles of luggage conveyor belts.