Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the third busiest airport in the world for passenger traffic, symbolically broke ground Tuesday on a new terminal that will position the airport for future growth.
DFW's Terminal F will be the sixth terminal in the massive DFW Airport complex. It will be built on the airport's southwest side adjacent to its existing Express South parking lot. The terminal will be a 15-gate terminal that will not follow the crescent shape of the other five but will be connected to the rest of the airport via a Skylink station.
Airport officials outlined a $1.6 billion program that will prepare the airport and North Texas for the future.
"This project has been years in the making. Today, we celebrate the future of DFW, one of growth and expansion," said Sean Donohue, CEO of DFW Airport. "And as we address the continued rise in air travel both in Texas and around the world, you're going to see airplanes launching behind you literally going to almost every continent in the world today from DFW."
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In 2023, the airport saw over 80 million passengers move through the airport, a record. Donohue said the airport expects to set another new record for passenger traffic in 2024, with nearly 90 million passengers.
AA and DFW first announced plans for Terminal F in 2019, hoping to have the 24-gate terminal up and running by 2025. The pandemic and lower demand for air travel put the project on hold until it was restarted in May 2023 as a 15-gate project.
American Airlines and the airport still plan to spend another $3.2 billion on other airport improvements, including renovation and expansion of Terminals A and C.
Terminal F is expected to be operational in 2027.
