Seattle's New $1 Billion Airport Terminal Needs a New $78 Million Upgrade

Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 11:20 AM ET, Mon April 10, 2023
Aerial view of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

PHOTO: Aerial view of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (photo via PapaBear/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport invested nearly $1 billion in a new terminal so that it can handle more long haul flights.

But it was set for more than 20 long haul plains and it can only handle 16, because of a design flaw.

Now the port of Seattle says it will take $78 million more to fix.

Apparently, there is a shortfall of available gates than what was originally designed.

The new facility has been opened for more than a year, but when Seattle-Tacoma started coming up short in what was expected to be an increase in long haul flights, they took a second look. What they found was that there are a handful of wide-body planes that don’t fit into the gates.

Port officials say that one gate might never be able to handle a wide-body plane.

It all has to do with how the gates are laid out. But it might be too late for some of the gates.

An official with the Port said in a statement, “(we are) actively and aggressively working to address deficiencies”,  but also admitted that  “plans have not been finalized.”


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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