America’s Newest Airport
Did you know that America’s first airport to be built after 9-11 has just recently opened? Do you know where ?
It’s actually in Indianapolis, the capital city of Indiana and a bustling Midwest city. For those of you who have had the unfortunately pleasure of flying into the old airport (pictured above), you’d find yourself taxing on the runways for approximately 15-20 minutes before arriving at the terminal. Yes, strangely enough, the old airport was built with runways almost on the other side of town. *shrugs* Go figure.
But the problems only start there. The old terminals were terribly cramped, with insufficient seating and a horrible 60s-themed carpets and architecture. Sure – it served its purpose – but let’s just say it wasn’t a place to go and spend the day nor to spend an agonizing airport layover.
So on my recent travels I landed in the new ‘midfield terminal’ – yes, folks, some got a clue and decided to put the terminal next to the runways, amazingly enough. Just to be clear, it is the same runways and such but a new terminal and associated facilities. Upon disembarking I was completely shocked and thought perhaps we’d made a mistake and landed in a more glamorous destination in the Caribbean somewhere.
There is tons of room in the new concourses – wide aisles and space in every direction. The ceilings are tall and airy. There are proper shops – from a day spa to a popcorn store with more colours and flavours of popcorn than I thought possible. (Blue popcorn? Red popcorn? A bit too ‘americana’ for my taste, thanks!)
Right – this bit is for the readers who are fact fiends, but I’ve added my colourful commentary. Read on:
- Largest “development initiative” (does anybody know what that means?) in the history of the city of Indianapolis
- New control tower is 3rd largest in the United States
- Two international gates (how many international passenger flights?), 38 domestic gates
- 1,100 doors – 10,000 light fixtures – 11,000 tons of steel
- Second largest Fedex operations hub – that thing is bloody huge so I can’t image what the largest hub in Memphis looks like
- There is even valet parking now!
As you’ll see from the photos below (courtesy of our Flickr friends), the new terminal has a significant resemblance to Heathrow’s new T5. However, it is without the baggage (ahem, pun intended) that has dogged British Airways for months.
In summary: nice work, Indianapolis!
If you’re dying to find out more about this new airport (and why wouldn’t you?) then you can visit the official new Indianapolis airport website.
Image Credits
Old Airport picture by Berber Carpet
New Airport pictures by Indyjrob
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January 2nd, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Wow…I’ve never had the urge to fly to Indiana before, but your stellar review of their new facilities makes me want to google that state to see what is there to visit! Glad to see American facilities are working on getting on par with other global leaders in terms of airport technology and design!
Nacie’s last blog post..Welcome to a New Year!
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Well, Nacie, I wouldn’t put it at the top of my to-do list, but if you do have the opportunity, it is quite a nice airport
AroundIndy does have a fairly good list of things to do, including the lovely canal walk in the city centre.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I flew into the old Indianapolis airport once and found it charming… in a retro-flashback kind of way.
Dave2’s last blog post..Yearly
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Ha – I’m sure you’ll be able to buy some sort of photobook and reminisce about the old days…
)