With the new 1.7 million square foot South Terminal now open and the 3.2 million square foot North Terminal scheduled for completion in 2011, MIA is prepared for the future
Written by Militza Richard & Produced by Michael Magno
Miami, Florida is famous for its tropical climate and perfect beaches, but Juan Carlos Arteaga, the North Terminal Development Program Director at Miami International Airport, has more to be excited about than just the weather.
Miami International Airport’s massive North Terminal Development Program, which Arteaga oversees, is nearing completion at a time when many airports are struggling to find the capital to get their projects off the ground.
“Many airports need to remodel and restructure but have been delayed because they are unable to get financing,” explains Arteaga. “We are excited to be on the tail end of the project when some haven’t been able to even get started.”
NORTH TERMINAL
Upon completion in Fall 2011, MIA’s dynamic North Terminal will serve as American Airline’s hub for Latin America and the Caribbean. It is an enormous undertaking both financially and logistically. The 3.6-million-square-foot terminal consists of both new (1.8 million sf) and renovated (1.7 million sf) areas and is more than a mile long. The terminal will boast 48 international/domestic gates, two additional regional gates, 152 ticket counters and126 self-service kiosks.
Launched in 1998, the massive project was originally managed by American Airlines but fell behind schedule and went over budget. The project was too fragmented, with 30 different architects and poor communication between them.
Miami-Dade County’s Aviation Department, which operates MIA, took over in 2005 and called in Arteaga to manage and plan the project. After 16 months of reorganization, value engineering and constructability review, the project re-started in mid-2006 and has been on schedule and within budget ever since.
Managing such a large project was no easy task, says Arteaga. The airport had to continue normal operations despite construction. “We never closed the terminal while we were doing construction. The only concourse that we ever closed was Concourse A. Movement of traffic was very complicated. We had to provide construction spacing while still complying with building code requirements,” he explains.
With the project now 81 percent physically completed, Arteaga is glad to have that stage of the project behind him. “With the exception of the international area, the terminal will be mostly completed this year,” he says proudly.
The international area, scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2011, will feature an extremely efficient federal inspection area with state of the art security, 72 check lanes and the ability to handle 3,600 passengers per hour.
INCREASED EFFICIENCY
The new terminal’s design will also improve airport efficiency. “The old design for airports is the finger configuration,” explains Arteaga. “That design is very inefficient. With the small space between fingers only one plane can go in and out at a time. This means a lot of taxiing and wasted fuel.’
“We are converting the airport design from finger to linear,” he continues. “With the finger design, turnover is about 4.5 times a day but with a linear design you can use a gate 10 to 12 times a day because four to six planes can move at a time.”
The only problem with a linear terminal is the distances. For example, the linear North Terminal is 1.2 miles long, which is quite a hike for passengers hauling bags. To solve this problem, MIA is constructing an Automated People Mover (APM) on the roof of North Terminal. Scheduled for completion in August, the train will be “highly efficient” says Arteaga. Able to handle 9,000 passengers per hour, the train can cross the entire North Terminal in three minutes.
The first two phases of North Terminal’s new baggage handling system is scheduled for completion this Fall with final completion in August 2011. “It’s automated from the time you drop your bag off at the counter until it gets to the gate,” he explains. The system will screen and deliver bags to aircraft at all of North Terminal’s 50 gates. With nearly 10 miles of conveyers and the capacity to handle 8,400 bags per hour, it will be “by far the largest bagging system in the U.S. when completed.”
As the Latin American and Caribbean hub of American Airlines — by far Miami’s largest carrier — the North Terminal will handle about 70 percent of the airport’s traffic. The newly expanded and remodeled 1.7-million-square-foot South Terminal, completed in 2007, will handle the bulk of the remaining traffic.
“That means 95 percent of our passengers will be using a new airport and only five percent using what was traditionally known as the MIA terminal. It’s a new day at MIA,” says Greg Chin, Media Relations Manager.
HEALTHY ECONOMY
With one large project completed and another almost done, it really is a new airport. And while the current economic climate has had a negative impact on the air transportation industry, Miami International Airport has maintained steady traffic.
“Traffic was only down half a percent in 2009,” says Chin. “Many airports had loses of five percent or more. We just broke even in a sense. That’s an incredible achievement in this economy.”
In fact, MIA’s financial outlook was upgraded by Fitch Ratings for the airport’s recent bond issue. Chin says they are proud to have received an “A” rating for their bonds at a time when the outlooks for 24 other U.S. airports were downgraded because of the economy.
“Business-wise we are doing very well,” adds Arteaga, who attributes much of the airport’s continued stability to its high volume of international traffic. About 47 percent of the airport’s passengers are international travelers, ranking the airport second overall in the U.S. for international passengers.
While domestic traffic is down due to the economy, the weaker dollar has brought in more international traffic especially from the booming South America market. As American Airline’s Latin American and Caribbean hub, Miami Airport has reaped the benefits of the increase in South American travelers.
MIAMI’S “GRAND CENTRAL STATION”
Also under construction by the Florida Department of Transportation is the Miami Intermodal Center, which would act as “Miami’s Grand Central Station,” says Chin. The transportation hub will include the Miami Rental Car Center, which will consolidate the operations of 16 rental car companies into one five-level facility scheduled to open in May. The Intermodal Center, or MIC, will be connected to the airport by a one-mile-long automated people mover scheduled for completion at the end of 2011. The MIC, scheduled for total completion in 2012, will also provide connections to Miami-Dade County’s Metrorail system and to South Florida’s Tri-Rail system.
With MIA’s construction program coming to a close in a few years, the airport and Miami-Dade County is positioned to handle the area’s booming tourism industry for decades to come. As Arteaga aptly states, “It is a really exciting time to live in Miami-Dade County.”
FACTS at a Glance:
Company: Miami International Airport
President/CEO: José Abreu, Aviation Director
Services: 34 million annual passengers
Established: 1928
Employees: 1,435
Revenue: $659.7 million
www.miami-airport.com
View Digital Corporate Profile of MiamiDadeAirport in SupplyChain Digital February 2010