Did you know that DCA now has a new concourse? It comes just in time for reopened travel!
As part of a $1 billion initiative to transform the customer experience at DCA, the airport's new 14-Gate Concourse has opened. It replaces Gate 35X -- or rather, the waiting area with an escalator that took travelers to a bus terminal that then drove them to a remotely parked airplane.
American Airlines claims that, before the COVID-19 pandemic, operations from Gate 35X accounted for 16% of all customer traffic and 30% of all departures from DCA.
Now, the swanky new concourse for customers departing on regional flights from Gates 46-59 resembles the others at DCA. Its 14 gates come with 850 blue seats in the waiting areas, lots of charging ports, an indoor pet relief area, four public restrooms, two mother's care rooms, and panoramic views of the Washington, DC skyline.
Five concessions are set to be open by July 1, 2021, including Peet's Coffee, Wolfgang Puck's Bar Bites, Mezeh, InMotion Entertainment, and Capitol File News.
When complete, the new concourse will also include more than 10 new shopping and dining options and a new 14,000 square-foot Admirals Club — currently scheduled to open in 2022.
Up to 85 daily departures are planned from Gates 46-59 in the new concourse this summer.
Travelers arriving by road or rail will also notice two New Security Checkpoint Buildings with curved roofs between the Metrorail station and the departures curb. The new checkpoints are scheduled to become operational by the end of the summer.