Tucson International Airport. A major revamp of Tucson International Airport’s security and departure areas will start in June.
The security checkpoints, now located in the center of each concourse, will be moved to the outer edges of the terminal. That will open up space for more shops, restaurants and cafes in the departures area, said Mike Smejkal, director of engineering at the Tucson Airport Authority.
He said the new concessionaires will be chosen by early autumn.
"But the total project including the new concession and retail space won’t be completely done until about Thanksgiving 2017," said Smejkal.
How disruptive will the project be for people traveling through the Tucson airport in the next year and a half?
Minimal, said Smejkal.
"Most of the space that we’re doing our major infrastructure improvements on is actually empty space right now," he said. "So we just plan to put up walls around it and do the construction. And anything that’s going to be an area that actually affects the traveling public will be done at night or off-peak times."
The majority of the $28 million project will be paid with passenger facility charges. The Tucson Airport Authority will contribute the remaining $5.5 million.
You can see the plans here.
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