If you’ve seen some construction at PDX recently, you probably have a few questions. That’s what we’re here for.
Where to find the latest construction updates: For the latest travel updates, head over to FlyPDX.com, and follow along on Twitter at @FlyPDX for timely news and at-the-moment alerts. Keep coming back here to PDXNext.com for sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes stories.
PDX simply needs more space to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the millions of passengers we serve. Right now, we welcome around 20 million people per year; we expect that number to grow to 35 million passengers by 2045. That’s why we’re upgrading the heart of the airport with an earthquake-resilient main terminal that has more room to keep everyone comfortable. See how we’re bringing this vision to life.
We’re making the Portland International Airport more, well, PDX. When the new main terminal opens in spring 2024, expect windows and skylights galore, #PNW touches like Doug fir ceilings and indoor plants, and more of your favorite shops and restaurants. Behind the scenes, we’re also making PDX more energy-efficient and inclusive by design. It’s the airport you love, getting lovelier.
PDX Next is funded with a $2 billion investment. You may wonder who’s picking up that check. The answer is simple: It’s not local taxpayers. The airport’s tenants — and by tenants we include the airlines — are paying for the vast majority of the upgrades.
We know a lot is happening now, with lots of temporary walls and detours, but it won’t last forever. Promise! We’ve already doubled the airport’s footprint and installed PDX’s new nine-acre wood roof overhead. Now we’ll spend 2023 building the shops and restaurants you’ll soon find in the new main terminal and planting all the trees. In 2024, you’ll be able to see everything we’ve been accomplishing behind the construction walls—and by the end of 2025, the PDX Next construction project will be complete.
Yes! But we don’t think you’ll miss it. In November 2019, we said goodbye to the oldest, stuffiest concourse at PDX, demolishing Concourse A to make room for a new Concourse B in December 2021. We’ve added six gates, an immersive artwork by RYAN! Feddersen, and some of Portland’s best coffee and fried chicken. Of course, the change means that the alphabet at PDX now begins with “B” — just doing our part to keep Portland a little weird.
When the new main terminal opens in 2024, you won’t need airline tickets to shop at the four retail stores we’re adding nor at the four new places to grab a bite to eat or a coffee. And you can wait for your arriving passengers, while you admire the expansive views, at a showstopper restaurant and bar on the mezzanine level. (Don’t worry: PDX is keeping our street pricing policy, so you’ll pay the same prices at the airport as you do in local shops.) Once you do go through security, there will be even more shopping and dining options on the other side.
You bet! That’s one way we’re keeping the heart and soul of PDX intact. Throughout the expansion project, we’ve partnered with local forest stewards, construction companies, and craftspeople. As we open more spaces for restaurants and shops, we’re creating new opportunities for local businesses, too. By the time the new main terminal’s shops and restaurants open in 2024, 26% of the airport’s concessions will be women- and minority-owned.
We’re making a bunch of improvements to help you get in and out of the airport seamlessly. A few of these changes—like the new on-site rental car center that eliminated the need for shuttles—are already in effect. At present, you can pick up your Lyft or Uber from Island 2 outside the baggage claim area. In mid-2023, we’ll open a dedicated rideshare pick-up area, which will ease roadway congestion for everyone.
Oh, yes, the famous carpet at PDX. It’s risen to celebrity status over the years, thanks to a bajillion shoe selfies, not to mention the Trail Blazers’ 2022-23 uniforms. You probably know that the airport replaced the iconic, worn-out 1980s-era carpet with a similar design in 2015. Well, we’re bringing the old design back to a few spots in the new main terminal. High-traffic areas will have terrazzo or wood floors so wheelchairs, strollers, and roller bags can zip through. You’ll find carpet in areas where you might wait, such as the ticket lobby, security screening zones, and pre-security lounges.
Those of us who work at the airport miss the hallway between Concourses B/C and Concourses D/E as much as passengers do. Don’t worry—it’s coming back. Once the first phase of PDX’s new main terminal opens in August 2024, you'll be able to visit every post-security gate (or business) just as freely as you used to.
In order to keep visitors safe while we expand the main terminal, we installed temporary walkways from the north and south TSA screening stations to Concourses C and D in late 2021. We know the extra distance to your gate can be a drag. But it’s only temporary! In 2025, at the end of the terminal expansion project, both walkways will disappear.
We can’t imagine a PDX without the talented musicians who perform for visitors. In fact, we’re building a bigger stage for them in the new main terminal: a pre-security platform surrounded by stadium seating. And if you have a few minutes before or after your flight, check out the major works of art we’ve added, including Jacob Hashimoto’s hanging pieces in Concourse E, RYAN! Feddersen’s installation in Concourse B, and Perez Westbrooks’ mural in the walkway to the rental car center. There’s still more to come!
Well, this isn’t a question … but don’t worry, we’ve got some tasty news for you. Since 2020, more than a dozen new concessions have opened at PDX. The mix includes local favorites like Good Coffee on Concourse B and Juliett on Concourse E. When the expanded main terminal opens in 2024, we're opening even more local shops and restaurants at PDX.
The flexible interior spaces were designed with the future of travel in mind — and to give you plenty of comfortable spots to recharge before your next flight.
Two permanent installations from acclaimed contemporary artist Jacob Hashimoto hang like clouds above the concourse’s common areas.
Shops and restaurants are clustered together like city blocks, with a pedestrian-friendly scale and lots of room to spread out.
PDX’s swanky new bar, Juliett, honors women in aviation with mid-20th-century style, top-class cocktails, and local wines and beers.
Sky-high windows fill the interior with daylight while maximizing the concourse extension’s energy efficiency.
At the east end of the concourse, a wall of windows opens up this epic view of Mt. Hood, where you’ll definitely want to pose for a photo before takeoff.
The Concourse E extension project is the dedicated home for Southwest Airlines at PDX, with six new gates.
Remember the view of Mt. Hood on Concourse E? It’s coming back, brighter than ever.
Tillamook’s menu includes the best of the classics with fried cheese curds and a signature grilled cheese.
Calliope takes its name from one of Oregon’s native hummingbirds and showcases creative and playful keepsakes.
Grab your favorite book, magazine or newspaper at Your Northwest Travel Mart.
Concourse B's 38-foot-high ceilings and 6,900 square feet of windows don't just let light in. They let you watch the airport in action. "I think this airport gave us a chance to celebrate the romance of flight," says Gene Sandoval of ZGF, the architecture firm that designed the new concourse.
ZGF Architects was inspired to bring the Pacific Northwest’s natural world indoors. You can contemplate the plants hanging from the ceiling and the Oregon white-oak walls as you relax in B’s comfy new seats. (Bonus: More power adapters!)
RYAN! Feddersen’s art installation, which fills the concourse, is made up of three interconnected pieces. The “Sentinel” landscapes and abstract “Habitat Tiles” are pictured here.
RYAN! is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. She draws inspiration from the region’s traditions and landscape for these pieces, which include the gently rolling “Cloud Walk” overhead.
Nicole and David Mouton, in partnership with HMSHost, opened an outpost of Portland’s beloved Screen Door Restaurant on Concourse B. Find Screen Door’s legendary fried chicken and waffles here from breakfast until dinnertime.
Sam and Nick Purvis, the brothers behind Good Coffee, source fresh coffee beans and teas from all over the world. Pick up a pastry or a bag of beans, too!
Our new rental car center opened in November 2021.
All rental car brands are now on-site at PDX – no more shuttles to pick up your car.
Perez Westbrooks' colorful digital mural celebrates Northwest flora.
Ben Butler's swirling wood sculpture is made from reclaimed Douglas fir.
The new facility also adds 30 ADA parking spots, more than 30 electric vehicle charging stations, and 2,200 long-term parking spaces to the airport.
Adding more lanes to our new, relocated exit toll plaza helps you leave PDX more quickly.
Every design decision we make is about keeping the heart and soul of PDX intact. You’ll see homages to all the things you love about our city and region in the new airport designs.
You’ll notice subtle nods to the Pacific Northwest landscape throughout the space. Natural light, living trees, and native Oregon foliage may give you the feeling of walking through a park.
The new terminal’s wooden ceiling, made from sustainably grown, local Doug fir, might remind you of daylight filtering through forest canopies.
This will be your new view when entering the spacious ticket lobby at PDX. The nine-acre wood roof is so distinctive you’ll be able to spot it from the air.
The ripples and currents of pristine Northwest rivers inspired the new terminal’s curvy profile.
Expanding the heart of PDX creates more space for our beloved local shops and restaurants — not to mention local humans (and visitors, too).
Tom Strong - Chief Executive Officer, Skokomish Indian Tribe, Skokomish Washington
"We're foresters in that we're stewards," says Tom Strong, Chief Executive Officer of the Skokomish Indian Tribe, which manages 2,000 acres of Washington forests for its 800 tribal members. "We're not cutting and planting, seeking to develop our lands into a commodity. Instead, we're doing it to restore the forest."
Over the past 100 years, the two dams on the North Fork Skokomish River have had a major impact on the entire ecosystem of Skokomish land. "We want to restore the entire Hood Canal watershed," Tom says. The forests are just one part.
Selling wood from Douglas fir trees the tribe selectively thinned will help fund this restoration. "We don't have an endless amount of money," Tom says. "But we would like to think we've got an endless amount of time."
Ben Hayes - Co-owner, Hyla Woods, Cherry Grove, Oregon
Ben Hayes is a sixth-generation forester who manages Hyla Woods, outside Cherry Grove, Oregon, with his father, Peter. He is also a sustainable-forestry consultant. At Hyla Woods, the Hayes experiment with selective thinning and patch cutting, instead of clear-cutting, to foster diversity of tree species, ages, and sizes.
"When you look 100 years out, having greater complexity in terms of species and the structure of the forest, you can increase the forest's resilience in the face of extreme weather and drought," he says.
"We're working toward a model of forestry that you could practice for the perpetual future,” Ben says. “It's a model that lifts up both rural and urban communities and the ecosystems we rely on."
Richard and Ann Hanschu - Owners, Doneen, Forest Grove, Oregon
Ann Hanschu's father first bought land outside Forest Grove, Oregon, in 1956. Ann grew up trailing her father around the forest, learning from him. The Hanschus now have three children, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Richard says, "We're planting trees that our grandchildren will see the profits from — not even our children. It's long-range thinking."
"A lot of the timber is older,” Ann adds. “We're laddering it with trees of different age groups — some 30-40 years old, some 10-20 years old — so the land can continue to produce a sustainable amount of wood."
Herman Flamenco - Central Cascades Conservation Forester, The Nature Conservancy, Cle Elum, Washington
"We know historically that the stands we're working on were overstocked," says Herman Flamenco, Central Cascades conservation forester for the Nature Conservancy, of the 50,000 acres outside Cle Elum, Washington, the organization manages. Thinning the trees welcomes in light and biodiversity.
Some loggers in the region worry that this low-impact approach to forestry yields less lumber, and less profit, than clear-cutting. One local outfit took on this labor-intensive challenge, selectively harvesting Doug fir trees from steep slopes.
"Western Washington is wetter. In our dry climate, there's less moisture and increased fire risk," Herman says. "As we look at climate change, it's just going to get dryer. We want to make sure we can keep our forests around."
In the 1950s, back when people wore fancy hats to the airport, PDX’s main terminal had brown terrazzo floors.
By the 1970s, blue carpet sporting the old Port of Portland logo replaced the terrazzo. The airport was so concerned about keeping the carpet clean that we banned gum-chewing indoors.
In the 1980s, PDX replaced the ski-chalet paneling in the Clocktower Plaza with high ceilings and skylights, but kept the blue carpet.
SRG Partnership, a Portland-based architecture firm, designed the pattern for the now-iconic carpet on the layout of the airport runways.
The Clocktower Plaza, post-1988, with the iconic carpet.
The Clocktower Plaza (before its demolition in 2021-22) with the new carpet.