Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, United States of America

Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) had developed a comprehensive capital development plan. This plan involved investing $2.6bn in the airport's infrastructure over six years.

The airport's plan involved expansion through construction of a new Terminal D, which opened in July 2005. The expansion was ordered in 2000 and completed in five years. The total cost was $2.6bn.

Before the expansion, DFW had four terminals: A, B, C and E. After Terminal D opened, all international operations were transferred to the new terminal and the rest of the terminals operated domestic airlines.

DFW is the third-largest airport in the world in terms of operations and the seventh-largest in terms of passenger numbers. The land area at the airport is approxmiately 18,076 acres, which is the largest in Texas, the second-largest in the US and the third-largest in the world.

It has seven non-intersecting runways and a helipad, all made from concrete. The airport has 174 aircraft gates.

It handled 56.90 million passengers and recorded 652,261 aircraft movements in 2010.

Air travel growth

DFW had planned its expansion to capitalise on the projected growth in domestic US air travel, which is expected to grow at an average rate of 2.8% a year to reach almost one billion by 2023. International air travel is expected to almost double over the next ten years.

Development plan

To accommodate the projected increase in aircraft operations described above, the 1991 Dallas / Fort Worth airport development plan identified two primary areas for improvement:

• Reducing delays on the existing runways and taxiways, including enhancements to the service / cargo road system, primarily around the west terminal.

• Increasing overall capacity. The cargo roads will provide routes necessary to mitigate usage of service roads by cargo and aircraft service vehicles. A portion of these cargo roads will also provide access during construction.

Terminal D specifications

Terminal D opened on 23 July 2005. The terminal's surface area is 186,000m² and its total cost was $1.2bn. It has 28 replacement jet gates. An area of 9,290m² has been allocated for dining and shopping areas.

The route from Terminal D to Terminal C is via a sky bridge equipped with moving walkways meant for pedestrians. Terminal D can handle 11.7 million passengers a year. The construction of Terminal D outstripped the existing system's ability to move passengers between terminals.

An automated people mover (APM), skylink, a high-speed airport train system connecting all the terminals and the largest of its type in the world, was installed.

Skylink was acquired from Bombardier Transportation. Skylink operates on two tracks and provides a system of vehicles, stations and guideways that limit the unassisted walking distance to a maximum of 2,000ft between any two gates, as well as ensuring connection times do not exceed 30min.

The airside guideway alignment also required the relocation of existing aircraft parking positions and the mitigation of ramp control line-of-site obstructions that may have been created by the APM.

Airport-wide fuelling system upgrades satisfied the additional storage capacity required while updating the emergency fuel shut-off system. There is also an integrated 298-room Grand Hyatt hotel in Terminal D.

Terminal E expansion

The expansion of Terminal E began in September 2011 as part of $1.9bn terminal renewal and improvement programme (TRIP). The TRIP is a seven-year plan to refurbish A, B, C and E terminals of the airport by 2017.

The expansion will add 54,000m2 of terminal space for passenger services such as baggage claim, ticketing and security purposes. It also includes reactivating the satellite building. The expansion will be completed in four phases and main areas of the terminal will be completed between 2013 and 2016.

Circulation roads throughout Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

A number of projects were identified for improving public access and customer satisfaction.

A project consisting of terminal circulation roads and buses addresses the inter-terminal connectivity of non-secure passengers. Service road safety concerns are addressed by the adding acceleration and deceleration lanes.

Overall roadway improvements were planned for the north, south and west sides of the airport and parking was addressed via several projects.

The north shuttle parking lot was expanded by 900 spaces, a larger garage provided at Terminal B, section B and the existing rental car lots converted in to surface parking upon the opening of the new consolidated rental car facility.

Funds provided

Major projects are being funded by DFW's discretionary funds. Included is an expansion to the administration building on East Airfield Drive to accommodate both existing needs as well as the additional staff projected by 2003.

With the implementation of the airport's $2.6 billion capital development plan, it is estimated that DFW's investment will generate an additional $34 billion in economic impact on the North Texas economy, along with an additional 77,000 new jobs in the next 15 years.