Trump announces plans for sprawling Dulles Airport makeover

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced a sweeping makeover of Dulles International Airport on Wednesday, including the construction of new concourses and the removal of the airport’s aging shuttles known as “people movers.”

“We are announcing plans to add more than five million square feet of new or renovated space. We’ll replace the current C and D concourses, which are basic disasters, all the while preserving the iconic original terminal,” Trump said at an event in the Oval Office.

Trump said he’d selected the designs “after an extensive review of more than 30 proposals with the top architects anywhere in the world.”

The redone airport will include a “magnificent” multi-story parking garage with 32,000 parking spaces. “It’ll be actually the largest garage in the world,” Trump said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the “people movers,” which transported travelers through terminals, will be replaced by a faster and more efficient “horseshoe rail system.”

He added that the project’s $22 billion cost will not need to be federally funded. It will be “bonded for $22.5 billion. United is going to partake in part of the payment, but the airlines who participate in the project are going to pay for it,” Duffy said.

United Airlines said in a press release the work will include more than 5 million square feet of new or renovated space, with new and modernized concourses, an expanded main terminal and upgraded boarding areas and ticketing facilities.

Duffy said there is still some permitting left to do, but they’re hopeful project can begin by spring of next year.

Trump said they hoped to have the project completed within two years, and that the airlines’ projection for the work was originally 60 years.

In a press release, the Department of Transportation said “the transformation will occur in phases over several years.”

United presented a different timeline in its press release, saying the project will “transform the airport over the next decade into a modern, world-class gateway.”

At the White House event, Duffy said: “We’re trying to move at the speed of President Trump. It’s never fast enough, but we’re going as quickly as possible.”

Trump has been eyeing the project for months. His motorcade took a detour through the Northern Virginia airport in October to “assess potential future projects,” the White House said at the time.

The real estate mogul-turned-president later said he had big plans for the airport.

“We’re gonna make that into something really spectacular. We have an amazing plan for it,” he said in December.