With its opening just a year away, the first concessionaires have been announced for Dulles International Airport’s Concourse E.
The new food, beverage and retail stores “focus on brands that represent the regional D.C. experience,” said officials with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).
The new retail stores and restaurants were announced at MWAA’s Sept. 17 board of directors meeting. They will be part of a retail/food area totaling 44,000 square feet in the 14-gate concourse, slated to open in the fall of 2026.
Fraport Washington Partnership LLC manages concessions at the airport in collaboration with MWAA.
The Sept. 17 announcement “continues our commitment of premier shopping and iconic local dining options for passengers traveling through the D.C. region as the airport grows,” said Jaimini Erskine, vice president for marketing and concessions at MWAA.
The future concourse will include a food court with Wendy’s, Jimmy John’s, Dunkin’, Dos Toros Taqueria and Stratus Bar. Individual restaurants throughout the concourse will include Ellie Bird, Good Company Doughnuts & Cafe, Bonchon, Aventino, Rusty Taco and Honor Brewing.
There also will be two duty-free retail spaces, plus Travel Tech (for technology purchases) and a Gameway video-gaming lounge.
The 435,000-square-foot Concourse E is designed to accommodate current and planned expansion of United Airlines, which operates a major hub at Dulles. Construction has been underway for more than a year.
The announcement of future retail and restaurant outlets came on a day when MWAA officials reported a year-over-year 5.7% growth in passenger enplanements at Dulles, to 2.49 million for July.
“The new airlines and destinations just keep on coming,” said the authority’s president/CEO, Jack Potter.
He said facilities like Concourse E are designed to “continue building the airport of the future.”
As the board meeting was taking place, staffers from MWAA’s business-development group were in Asia, meeting with representatives from airlines, airports and business groups. That part of the world has been a prime focus of airport leaders for several years.
Over the past year, Dulles has ranked as the nation’s fastest growing airport in terms of international travelers. MWAA has embarked on a multi-phase expansion plan that, over time, could bring the airport’s total capacity to about 90 million travelers a year — more than three times the current number.
Growth at Dulles has helped offset declines at Reagan National, which in July saw a 6.5% year-over-year decline in passenger enplanements to 1.09 million. Weather issues and the ongoing impact of federal government reductions were largely to blame, MWAA officials said.
