SALT LAKE CITY — Construction of the new Salt Lake City International Airport is finally complete.
The final room in Hall B will open in a few days, marking the end of a 12-year project. City, airport and community leaders gathered Saturday to celebrate.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this incredible accomplishment,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
The project began in July 2014 and has evolved over the years.
“After millions of hours of work – after opening a brand new airport in the middle of a global pandemic and then continuing to welcome millions of passengers every year – we are here at the finish line,” Mendenhall said.
The final portion of the airport has 132,000 square feet, new restaurants and concessions, including Swig and Moochie’s Cheesesteaks, and seven new gates. Most of the new gates will be used by United Airlines.
The project cost $5.1 billion. Airport and city leaders stressed that this amount is funded by things like federal grants and user fees, not local taxpayer dollars.
“Now we can focus just on the regular work of running the airport, recruiting new carriers where we can and the capital projects that we’ve been putting off while we finish this up,” said Bill Wyatt, the airport’s executive director.
During Saturday’s celebrations, the airport also unveiled a new concourse art installation known as “Crossroads to the World,” made up of numerous laser-cut acrylic airplanes. Musician Kurt Bestor composed a song to mark the end of construction, which was performed at the event.
There is a long walk to the last bit of Concourse B, which some travelers have complained about over the years. But officials said it’s an important step toward preparing travelers for next year’s Salt Lake Temple open house — and the 2034 Winter Olympics.
“Thank you for your patience and trusting us with your journey,” Mendenhall said. “A project like this only ends once, but starting next week, this place will become simply what we built it for: our gateway to the world, our gateway to each other.”
The airport plans to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning to officially open the final portion of Concourse B to travelers.
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