Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport starts process to build new terminal, set to open in late 2030s
The city of Phoenix has started the process of getting a new terminal built at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport but it will be more than a decade until it is open.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego announced last month that she was directing city staff to get the ball rolling on getting a new terminal built at the city-owned Sky Harbor. The city’s Aviation Department presented a plan on May 7 to Phoenix City Council for the new terminal.
“Phoenix Sky Harbor is busier than ever, which is why we’ll soon need a new terminal to accommodate our growth,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a statement. “To continue providing excellent customer experience at America’s Friendliest Airport, the Council and I are moving forward with plans to build a cutting-edge terminal at the airport’s west end. The new expansion is years in the making and I am looking forward to the continued work to turn our shared vision into reality.”
Currently Sky Harbor has two terminals, Terminal 3 and Terminal 4, with the most recent new terminal construction at the airport occurring in 1990. The future terminal, which the city is calling the West Terminal, will be built on the west side of the airport campus near where the former Terminals 1 and 2 were located. Terminal 1 closed in 1990 and Terminal 2 closed in 2020. Both were demolished.
Sky Harbor has seen huge passenger growth over the past few years and serves more destinations today than at any other time in its history. Chad Makovsky, Phoenix’s aviation director, said the expectation is for that growth to continue over the next year or two.
Currently, Sky Harbor is still able to handle all the demand at its airport, but if aviation trends continue, the airport will have reached its limits by the mid-2030s and would have to turn business away if an additional terminal is not built. Aviation Department officials admitted that the process to build a new terminal will be quite lengthy, mostly due to federal regulations. The department will start the process this year by undergoing an airport layout plan.
Between 2025 and 2031 there will be an environmental review of the site of the new terminal and significant planning. Then construction could start in 2032. The construction process on the future West Terminal will take several years with the new terminal opening in 2037 or 2038.
A specific layout and design has not been decided yet for the future West Terminal, but the gate capacity could be 40 to more than 60 gates depending on the configuration and demand at the time construction starts.
Several other Sky Harbor projects are in the works
Before the new terminal is constructed, the airport is expected to finish several other projects including a north/south taxiway on the west side of the airport, adding a new north concourse at Terminal 3, and adding a post-security walkway between Terminals 3 and 4. Those projects are all underway, but with a continued increase in passenger traffic and larger aircraft flying into Phoenix Sky Harbor, additional capacity will be needed.
In the next six years, Sky Harbor is expected to spend $3.5 billion in renovations, updates and additions to the airport. The cost of the new terminal has not been determined, but the city said the project will be funded with with passenger facility charges, bonds, and airport funding, rather than tax dollars.
The new terminal, as well as other projects at Sky Harbor, has been part of the airport’s long-range comprehensive asset management plan, which was first presented in 2019 as a 20-year plan and then updated in 2022.