The first flight at Dulles International Airport’s first new concourse in nearly two decades was scheduled to take off this morning (Tuesday), following the completion of the first of four construction phases.
State, federal, and business leaders gathered for a ribbon-cutting Monday (Nov. 9) to celebrate the opening of Concourse E, a 435,000-square-foot facility that offers direct access to the airport’s AeroTrain, 14 new United Airlines gates, and the airline’s second-largest United Club in the country.
Though it was conceived separately, starting construction in late 2023, the $700 million project has now been folded into plans for a larger, $22.5 billion airport transformation.
“Today isn’t just about a brand-new passenger concourse,” Jack Potter, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), said during a ceremony before the ribbon-cutting. “It’s also about ushering in a new era in the national capital region with the premier international airport that will be in the country, but certainly in this region today.”
“Did you know that this construction, along with the new flights, destinations, and airlines that keep coming here, have made Washington Dulles one of the fastest-growing airports in America these past few years?” Potter continued. “… Welcome to the first of many upgrades.”
In addition to the nearly 40,000-square-foot United Club, the concourse includes shops, restaurants, a food court, an immersive gaming lounge, a pet relief area and other passenger services. Among the first food vendors are Aventino, Bonchon, Dos Toros Taqueria, Ellie Bird, Good Company Doughnuts & Café, Honor Brewing, MurLarkey Distilled Spirits, Rusty Taco and Starbucks.
Potter called the concourse opening “a major milestone” in the airport’s “transformation,” which will continue under a “Dulles Global Gateway” plan that MWAA, United Airlines and President Donald Trump unveiled in July.
Proposed months after Trump blasted Dulles as a “terrible” airport, the capital investment plan calls for over 5 million square feet of new and renovated space, including an expanded main terminal, new concourses and an expansion of the AeroTrain system that will allow MWAA to retire its polarizing mobile lounges.
Envisioning a decade-long timeline, the plan will accelerate updates previously expected to be implemented through the end of this century under a master plan that the MWAA board of directors adopted just last year.
“Dulles Global Gateway … will put Washington Dulles on a par with the leading international airports across the country and the world,” Potter said. “… It’s already planned. It’s already budgeted. It’s an aspirational plan, but it’s one that I know working with United Airlines and the team here at MWAA and all the construction people, designers, we’re going to make this happen.”
United Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella, a Herndon High School graduate, said the addition of Concourse E will allow the airline to expand to new locations, such as Toulouse, France, next year. Service to Milan, Italy, will also be added three days a week. The two cities are not currently served by any other airlines in the D.C. area.
The region that Dulles serves is “like no other city in the world,” Nocella said. “It has business traffic. It has leadership traffic. There’s everything you want to build a fabulous global gateway.”
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, who represents Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, noted that Dulles is a special place for many, including his own family: the airport was the port of entry for his mother when she immigrated to the U.S. from India in the 1970s.
“This airport is not just an airport. It is really a gateway to our country for so many people around the world,” Subramanyam said. “It’s also our welcome home, for so many of us who live here and fly in and out of this airplane every day.”
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger noted that for millions, Dulles is “their first glimpse of Virginia, or their first glimpse of our country.”
“When they see ‘Welcome home’ or ‘Welcome to the United States of America,’ this will be a glimmering example of who we are not just as a country or as a Commonwealth, but … as a people,” she concluded.
