War in the Mideast is having an impact on passenger activity at Dulles International Airport.
About two-thirds of flights from Dulles to the broader Middle East region have been cancelled since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) President and CEO Jack Potter told the authority’s board of directors on March 18.
Ongoing growth in international travel helped propel Dulles International Airport to a record-setting year in 2025.
Officials with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) will not have confirmed final passenger counts until late February or March, but the authority’s president and CEO, Jack Potter, said the expectation is for a 6% increase from the record year in 2024.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) officials say they are generally pleased with results of 2025 customer-satisfaction data at its facilities.
“Customers like our airports,” Gene Sutch, MWAA’s director of revenue strategy and analysis, said last Wednesday (Jan. 21) in a briefing to the authority’s business administration committee.
All flights from Reagan National Airport and most from Dulles International Airport have been canceled today (Sunday) due to the ongoing Winter Storm Fern.
According to a 7 a.m. update, snow began to fall at Dulles around midnight, and the airport has a snow team working to keep at least one runway open, though most flight activity has been suspended.
Fairfax County has issued a local emergency declaration for Winter Storm Fern, enabling it to mobilize additional resources and seek outside assistance.
Expected to hit the D.C. region tonight (Saturday) and linger into early Monday morning (Jan. 26), the storm could bring “catastrophic” ice accumulation and “heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain,” totaling between seven and 14 inches, according to the National Weather Service. A Winter Storm Warning has been issued, starting at 11 p.m.
A building exclusively for diplomatic visits, an autonomous shuttle system and a conversion of its distinctive main terminal into a museum are just some of the changes that could be in store for Dulles International Airport.
The U.S. Department of Transportation requested proposals in early December for ways to “revitalize” the airport on the Fairfax/Loudoun county border, claiming that it’s in “a state of disrepair” and already-planned renovations are “insufficient” for a global gateway to the nation’s capital.
Northern Virginia political leaders have reacted coolly to President Donald Trump’s criticisms of Dulles International Airport and his calls for a major rebuilding project there.
Trump called the airport “terrible” and suggested it was “incorrectly designed” during a Dec. 2 Cabinet meeting. Hours later, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it would seek proposals for new terminals and concourses to replace or enhance the facility, which straddles the Fairfax and Loudoun line.
Dulles International Airport has emerged as the latest target of President Donald Trump’s bid to remake the architecture of the nation’s capital.
Even as the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) pursues billions of dollars in capital projects, including a new concourse slated to open next fall, the U.S. Department of Transportation began soliciting proposals yesterday (Tuesday) from developers, architects and engineers to redesign airport just outside Fairfax County.
People movers will continue darting across Dulles International Airport for years to come, despite recent incidents that have revived safety questions for passengers who use them.
At the Nov. 19 meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board of directors, MWAA President and CEO Jack Potter acknowledged the “long-term limitations of relying on mobile lounges,” which are colloquially known as people movers.
Airlines at a growing Dulles International Airport will see higher operating costs in 2026 under a new budget adopted Nov. 19 by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).
The $889.5 million package, adopted unanimously by the authority’s board of directors, estimates that the “cost per enplanement” at Dulles will rise from the $11.17 budgeted in 2025 to $12.77 in 2026 — an increase of about 14%.
