USA. Salt Lake City International welcomed its first passengers on Tuesday to a new terminal and concourse which forms part of the first phase of a US$4.1 billion project – dubbed The New SLC – to renovate the airport.
A plethora of new retail and food & beverage outlets have opened in the new Concourse A-west, including offerings from Hudson, Paradies Lagardère and HMSHost.
This first phase of the development project – masterminded by global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm HOK – began in 2014. It includes a new 909,000sq ft central terminal building and two linear concourses with 45 new gates. A passenger tunnel links the two concourses.
The second phase, expected to be complete in 2024, will include a south concourse with 22 additional gates. When complete, the airport will be able to accommodate 34 million passengers a year, supporting the region’s growing hospitality and tourism industry.
Delta Air Lines will occupy the 25 gates in the new Concourse A-west, including six international gates, which means Salt Lake City International becomes the airline’s fourth-largest hub in the US.
An unveiling ceremony of the concourse staged by the Salt Lake City Department of Airports (SLCDA) yesterday was attended by speakers including SLCDA Executive Director Bill Wyatt, Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenall, Salt Lake City Council Chair Chris Wharton, Delta Air Lines Vice President Scott Santoro and Consulting Artist Gordon Huether.
Heuther is responsible for the large-scale art installations of the new concourse, which celebrate the natural beauty of Utah. The highlight of the opening ceremony was the reveal of The Canyon, a 362 ft-long sculpture. “We are delivering a totally immersive, inspired and powerful experience to all that enter here,” Huether said.
As part of the commemoration, speakers and others involved with the construction programme each placed an item in a time capsule. Items included a 1996 airport masterplan, a wooden bear carving, eagle feathers, sweet grass, a hard drive with construction drawings, and a letter to future airport employees written by current airport employees.
Meanwhile, a plethora of new retail and food & beverage outlets have opened at Salt Lake City International as part of the first phase of The New SLC. These include four new stores from Hudson, one pre-security and three post-security, in Concourse A/Terminal Plaza.
The stores are Hudson (travel essentials and convenience items), Land Speed Depot by Hudson (covering the four categories of Media, Essentials, Marketplace and Destination), Central Pointe Market (locally-inspired travel convenience concept) and Salt Lake City Dufry Shopping (including cosmetics and fragrances, fashion, accessories and confections, tobacco products, wines and spirits).
Hudson Chief Executive Officer Roger Fordyce said: “The opening of the new terminal and concessions at Salt Lake City International Airport is an important event because it represents our collective efforts as an industry to rebuild stronger than ever after COVID-19. Together with our partners at the SLCDA, our four new stores incorporate the highest level of safety SLC travellers are looking for without sacrificing the culture, spirit and ingenuity the capital city is known for.”
Concessionaire Paradies Lagardère has also opened new stores in The New SLC. They are Hip & Humble (accessories including sunglasses, jewellery, watches and scarves), CNBC (travel basics and food items), Tripadvisor (merchandise for travellers), KSL (news, books, snacks and drinks) and No Boundaries (outdoor clothing and accessories).
Paradies Lagardère President and CEO Gregg Paradies told The Moodie Davitt Report: “We are so pleased and proud to partner with SLC on their new world class facility, which has a brilliant local sense of place while being very customer friendly down to every detail.”
On the food & beverage front, HMSHost has unveiled five new dining options in the new concourse.
These include local Salt Lake City favourite Market Street Grill (fresh seafood and steaks), California Pizza Kitchen, two Starbucks Coffee shops, and Shake Shack (beef burgers, chicken sandwiches and griddled flat-top dogs).
HMSHost Vice President of Business Development Michael Price said: “We are excited to bring safe and accessible, not to mention amazing foodservice options to travellers as part of the newly relaunched Salt Lake City International Airport.”
In six weeks’ time, the new Concourse B-west will open at Salt Lake International with more new retail and F&B, along with 20 gates for Alaska, American, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and United airlines.
