Terminal C Debuts at Orlando International Airport TODAY!
Today is a momentous day for those flying to and from Orlando. It’s the grand opening of Terminal C, expanding Orlando International Airport and bringing even more restaurants, shops, flights and more central Florida!
As Terminal C opens next week, here are some important dates to remember for the relocation of airlines from Terminals A and B to Terminal C. As always, please contact your airline directly for any specific details in regards to their flight operations at this time. #MCOTerminalC pic.twitter.com/QtVygxJNGe
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) September 15, 2022
As you can see from the tweet above, the airlines calling the new terminal home are as follows:
- Aer Lingus
- GOL
- British Airways
- Emirates
- Lufthansa
- Azul
- Norse
- Icelandair
- JetBlue
- Caribbean Airlines
You’ll want to have your cameras at the ready when visiting the terminal. Inside you’ll find fake indoor palm trees, gigantic LED screens depicting underwater springs and skylights that show off Orlando’s blue skies. Its a fitting arrival for what NEWS 10 says is the world’s seventh-busiest airport. The new terminal measures 1.8 million square feet!
The final price tag for the construction of Terminal C came in at $2.8 billion.
The new terminal will mean that 12 million more passengers can be accommodated at the airport each year. This includes 15 new gates (increasing the airports capacity by a quarter.) According to News 10, airport administrators hope that the new terminal will ease some of the crowding at the airport.
In 2021, 59.3 million visitors headed to the Orlando area but crowds have yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels of 75.8 million visitors in 2019. With the post-pandemic return of travel and tourism however, it is expected that Orlando is on target to meet or even surpass 2019 levels.
Staff at MCO are calling the terminal one of the most technologically advanced in the US. For instance, suitcases are deposited in chip-embedded tubs that are tracked through radio frequency technology. The tubs reduce the possibility of machines getting jammed from wheels or straps. It also allow for constant tracking of bags. With this comes Orlando Airports commitment to move bags from gate to carousel in five minutes.
For those coming in from abroad, facial scans at departure gates will be used to speed up the boarding process. Even at security checks, guests will place carry-on bags in bins on an automated conveyor belt meaning you’ll no longer need to push them along on tables.
Terminal C, sits directly across from a train station that will be home to Brightline, a high-speed rail network that will run between South Florida and Orlando. The service is slated to open in Early 2023. With more guests traveling from Southern Florida, it is expected that even more visitors will opt to fly out of MCO as an alternative to Miami International Airport.
In terms of amenities guests will find familiar shops that exist at other terminals including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld Orlando. All shops are located beyond security to encourage visitors to go through the screening lines first.
The design is also innovative, as News 10 tells us, when passengers land at the airport, they will walk through a terminal flooded by sunlight from the giant skylights. This is a far cry from the lower cavernous levels that arriving guests typically encounter.
“We want them to feel the sunshine. We want them to feel them palm trees, the flora and fauna,” said Curtis Fentress, whose firm was the terminal’s design architect. “It brings light into the building in a way that sort of dapples, like the light that used to stream through the orange orchards, historically.”
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Source: News10