Story & Photos by Elston Hill
The Port of Seattle is building a new, expanded international arrivals facility at Sea-Tac Airport.
The current 1970s vintage facility in the south terminal is inadequate for the increased International traffic coming into Seattle. The new facility will more than double the capacity to 2600 international arrivals per hour.
A new 450,000 square foot arrival building is being built east of the current concourse A. An iconic aerial walkway, which will span 900 feet across and 85 feet above the existing taxi lane, will connect arriving international passengers from the South Satellite to the new facility. A Boeing 747 will easily pass under the bridge. A new security corridor along the face of the existing concourse A will allow dual use of eight gates for both international and domestic flights from concourse A. It is quite a project and we appreciate the hospitality shown to us by Perry Cooper and his associates with the Port of Seattle.
The first two pictures below are facsimiles of the new facility. The next group of pictures show the construction in progress at Sea-Tac airport. And finally, from the second level we had a great view of passengers waiting to go through TSA security. Because the airport was built decades ago before there was a need for TSA security, the lines look intimidating. However, we were told that lines move at a good pace and it is not nearly as bad as it looks. Like everything else in the area around Burien, growth has a way of overwhelming the infrastructure.
Click images to view larger versions/slideshow:
]]>
