A brand new concourse will open for passengers Tuesday at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport.
Dubbed Project NexT, the plan for the new terminal space has been years in the making. Construction has been ongoing since October 2024 with a cost of $68 million, made up of mostly federal money, including a $34 million earmark secured by former Sen. Patrick Leahy, along with a local share made up of existing airport ticket fees.
The new area touts a sustainable, energy-efficient design bolstered by geothermal heating and cooling. The interior is accented with warm wood and bathed in natural light from large windows that span the seating areas. There’s a children’s playroom and an area with lounge-style seating arranged around a double-sided fireplace. On the third floor, there’s an office space for airport employees, as well as a public observation room and new outdoor deck with sweeping views of airport runways and the Green Mountains beyond.
“We'll have patio furniture out there, Adirondack chairs. We already have requests from plane spotters to take photos there,” said Jeff Bartley, director of innovation and marketing. (The old publicly accessible observation area, which was closed during construction, will now only be available for ticketed passengers.)
Amenities include lactation pods and a pet area. Unfortunately for hungry travelers short on time, there are no vendor spaces in the new concourse.
The four new gates attached to the terminal will allow for larger planes and more passengers. Because the former north terminal was built for regional aircrafts, larger planes would overflow into taxiways, Bartley said. Airport officials say the new location of the expanded concourse, as well as the updated gates and jet bridges to accommodate larger planes, all make the airport safer.
Two out of the four new gates will be in use starting Tuesday, Bartley said. The other new gates await the demolition of the former north concourse and its gates, which is slated for mid-to-late July. He said American Airlines will primarily use gates one, two and three, and United will primarily use gate four, but they will be available for use by any airline when they’re available.
The terminal project is part of a number of long-term improvements planned for the airport, including an expanded space for passengers, as well as a new south concourse that will move all passengers to the second floor.
“We’ll eliminate gates 11 through 15, which is currently on the first floor. And expand south, hopefully with more amenities, maybe a food restaurant or a bar or more shopping,” Bartley said. “That is our goal over the next three to five years, is to build the south concourse and continue to provide more options for the airlines and our passengers.”
The first flight to the new terminal will arrive Tuesday. The American Airlines flight from Washington D.C. is slated to pull up to gate two at 11:45 a.m.
