The Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners recently adopted a new capital improvement programme at Miami International Airport (MIA) that will fund up to $5 billion in airport-wide modernization projects over the next five to 15 years, paving the way for future growth in passenger and cargo traffic at MIA – projected to reach 77 million travellers and more than four million tons of freight by the year 2040.
The comprehensive program is designed to address all of the airport’s future capacity and operational needs through five sub-programs that include: a redevelopment of Central Terminal concourses E and F; an expanded South Terminal (concourses H and J); renovated Concourse D gates to accommodate additional wide- and narrow-body aircraft, as well as larger regional jets; two new hotels (one which will include a business and conference centre with exhibition space) and other miscellaneous landside projects; and expanded aircraft parking positions and warehouses for cargo operations.
The multi-billion-dollar program is the latest in a string of historic milestones for MIA, which celebrated its 90th anniversary last September. In 2018, MIA surpassed 45 million annual passengers for the first time ever – an increase of nearly one million over the previous year. The gateway of the Americas served 21.8 international passengers in 2018 – making it once again the busiest airport in Florida for international travellers and third-busiest U.S. gateway in that category. MIA continues to maintain its ranking as the busiest U.S. airport for international freight as well, setting a new record of 2.3 million total tons of freight in 2018 – up 60,000 tons from its 2017 total.
