Sometimes I wish there was a bit more urgency in these types of infrastructure projects. Too much piecemeal and reducing of scale. Nothing really bold or ambitious in these projects anymore.
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LGAâs reconstruction I would consider to be bold and ambitious given they built brand new terminals around the old ones while keeping the airport fully operational.
The entire EWR situation seems to be the PA just giving NJ the short end of the stick because, unlike LGA and JFK, EWR wasnât hyped by the PAâs public affairs or given the same publicity as the two NY airports making it seem not as important as the other two despite being a major international airport.
EWRâs design is pretty lackluster and looks pretty value-engineered so far compared to what was shown on the renderings. It will probably be disappointing to an extent when it opens.
Personally, I wish we would get some âexoticâ design like airports around the world such as Beijing or Doha; something to be proud of and has some prestige, especially for New York City. Most new airport terminals here in the US are pretty boring. The renderings of Terminal B I found give me some hope for something actually âexcitingâ but knowing the PA, we wonât get it or it would be horribly butchered (think WTC).
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Finally, some actual news about EWR. They have got a number of operators for terminal concessions. Itâs still set to open later this year although I canât make any promise that it will.
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Found this drone footage of the terminalâs construction that was taken in May.
I wish the piers that connect to the jetbridges from the terminal had windows. Itâs going to be a bleak walk from the waiting areas to the plane, especially since some of those peirs are pretty long.
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There seemed to be windows on the piers.
Nope. No windows. The double gate piers had what appeared to be âwindowsâ but they were covered up and only for the âfire escapeâ stairs. Passengers would not be able to look of them if they were retained.
Here are some pictures from a year ago that I took. No windows.
This is a similar pier to the pictures I took from the drone footage. No windows.
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I always wondered why US airports donât have the glass jetways that youâll see in Europe and some other countries.
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For the longest, they were banned. A number of airports such as PAE, KCI, ICT, AMA, SBP, SYR, GRK, HSV, etc. have included them in renovations of their terminals. Itâs usually smaller airports that choose to get them to make using their facilities more special, although a major airport, OâHare might include them in their Terminal 5 since renderings exist of that project depicting glass jetbridges. New Yorkâs LaGuardia Airport also used to have glass jetbridges in the 1970s.
(Source)
To understand why US airports didnât have glass jetbridges is because the National Fire Protection Association banned them for the longest because of their logic of âusage of glass could cause pedestrian congestion as people stop to look at possible fires or traumatic scenes while trying to evacuateâ. Since that restriction was removed in the 2010s, itâs a matter of whether or not the airport authorities want to spend extra on glass jetbridges.
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Thanks for the explanation. I enjoy walking through them whenever I arrive at a foreign airport. It would be nice to experience coming back and it adds a kind of sophisticated appearance Iâd like to see at NY area airports.
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Looks like construction is wrapping up on the ramp areas in the southern half of the terminal. Concrete barriers around the jetbridges are being removed, cars are not parked there and the area is being prepared for aircraft parking.
Compare these two images and youâll see the difference.
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with the latest news that united is going to cut off 50 daily flights out of newark due to congestion, is there any project that would alleviate this problem? is this new terminal 1 gonna help solve the problem?
United operates mainly out of Terminal C which is exclusively UA.
Terminal 1 has common-use gates so itâll be shared by all the users of A. It will likely alleviate congestion and delays waiting for gates since planes can now roll up at an empty gate instead of their assigned âareasâ which is the current setup and is highly inefficient since if the gates are full, arriving flights have to wait until the gate opens up before disembarking passengers.
In regards to cutting flights, they are mainly caused by United losing gates due to the terminalâs construction (which resulted in an entire concourse of the old A being demolished, causing a loss of 8 gates), taxiway closures, and holding area closures. Thereâs also a runway repair project that will be occurring which will also contribute to these flight cuts. The schedule cuts are simply cutting the frequency of flights, not destination removals.
(Source: United to cut 50 flights a day from Newark airport summer schedule - nj.com)
I assume that once the new terminalâs online and all the construction is complete, the flight cutting will be likely reduced since United can use the new terminal for some of their operations.
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thank you for your answer. what do you think the max capacity will be when those works are over? also, is there a plan to redevelop terminal b? thank you?
There is plans to redevelop B, but it isnât finalised. I found a while back some renderings of what Terminal B could look like in a Port Authority document but itâs only a concept and not the final design. It looks sick and I hope that whatever they choose is just as unique and âbold.â
Here are the renderings:
And for the capacity in the new terminal, Terminal A will have 33 gates when complete but no airline âownsâ them which increases flexibility as airlines can park at any open gate instead of waiting for gates to open up at their assigned areas. I donât know how many flights a day will be able to be handled or what United will restore upon completion of these works.
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Looks like apron markings are starting to be painted. This is good news which indicates to me that airside construction is starting to wrap up. Still, lots more to do landside but seeing the markings being painted means the end of construction is near. Hopefully, they finish by October when I plan to be flying out of Newark for my next trip, permitting me to get a close-up look at the Terminal and its features.
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This may be unrelated to the Terminal itself but thereâs no general âEWR Redevelopmentâ thread. The planned Amazon cargo hub at EWR was canceled due to opposition by unions and local groups.
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good. amazon needs to be reigned in.
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The PA updated the âEWR aerial imageâ thing on the EWR project website today. Taken on 6/23/22 (the last update was in April), it gives a good look at the current status of the terminal project despite being incredibly low-resolution. Construction is largely focused on the headhouse and the garage now, along with the northernmost wing of the terminal (the wing close to the old A concourse that was razed). The southern half and the centre concourse of the terminal are essentially complete with all apron markings applied and jetbridges installed.
The terminal should likely be ready by the end of the year.
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