Salt Lake airport's $5.1 billion rebuild is done as the last gates open Tuesday

Salt Lake City International Airport has finished its 12-year, $5.1 billion redevelopment, TownLift reported. The Department of Airports held a celebration Saturday, Oct. 24, and the final phase opens to passengers Tuesday, Oct. 27, with seven gates and six concessions in Concourse B. ^[1]

Work began with a groundbreaking in July 2014. The new terminal opened in September 2020, followed by later phases in 2023 and 2024, with portions of the final phases opening in 2025 and 2026. Once the last gates open, the airport will have 94 aircraft gates, four hardstand positions and 101 concessions, designed for 34 million passengers a year. ^[1][3]

The seven new gates are mainly for United Airlines, with two common-use gates for other airlines. The new concessions are Einstein Bros. Bagels, Moochie's Cheesesteaks, Monarca, Mr. Charlie's Chicken Fingers, Swig and &Go SLC, a news and convenience store, according to the airport's announcement. ^[2]

No local tax dollars were used, according to TownLift and the airport's fact sheet. The airport is an enterprise fund, and the project was paid for with airport funds, passenger facility charges, rental-car customer facility charges, airport revenue bonds and federal grants, which covered 4.5% of the total. ^[1]

Bill Wyatt, executive director of the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, said in the airport's July announcement: "It has been six years since we opened The New SLC and 12 years since we broke ground." The airport will continue separate infrastructure work to plan for future growth. ^[1]