MCO South Terminal

[Tiggers Friend]

I was browsing through an airplane magazine earlier today and came across an interesting piece.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority has announced that the new $2.75bn terminal facility will be opened to International traffic on September 19th and domestic traffic will follow on September 26th.

The new terminal has 15 gates and can host up to 20 planes and can support 10-12 million passengers per year.

[Simon Veness]

Good spot, TF. I meant to post something about this sooner, as we've been following this development keenly (it WAS supposed to open in July, but that has been pushed back to a less-busy time of the year). BA will be among the first to use the new facility (which should be really, really good), and the overall vibe is sharp and high-tech.

This is what they announced a few weeks back:

AVIATION AUTHORITY SETS OPENING FOR NEW SOUTH TERMINAL C

ORLANDO, FL. – Orlando International Airport (MCO)'s South Terminal C has an official opening date. At today’s Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) board meeting, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Thibault announced the new $2.75 billion terminal will open over a two-week period, with international operations beginning on September 19, 2022 and domestic operations on September 26, 2022.

“Although we could open before Labor Day, it is best that we transition airline operations and our customers at a period with less passenger travel than our normal peak summer season,” Thibault said. “As we get closer to those dates we will notify the board and the community on various milestones, as well as events to commemorate this exciting opportunity.”

The dates were determined after the careful consideration of several factors:

* Volume of passengers would increase logistical challenges
* Difficulty for airline partners to transition while maintaining operational readiness
* Need to continue delivering optimal customer service throughout entire airport campus
* Opening would more closely mirror the ending/beginning of a new Fiscal Year

“We want to ensure that from day one, Terminal C will be ready to accommodate our growing air service demands while providing the utmost in customer convenience,” said Carson Good, Board Chairman of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “Going ‘Beyond The Orlando Experience’ has always been our goal for this facility and we’re confident that when it opens, it will exceed those expectations.”

[Tiggers Friend]

Simon, do you know if car rental will be located in the new terminal or will it be necessary to get the train to the main hub?

[Simon Veness]

It's my understanding that car hire will still be done from the main (North) terminal, but that could change in future.

[Tiggers Friend]

It's my understanding that car hire will still be done from the main (North) terminal, but that could change in future.

No problem really, the journey time will be a bit longer than from one of the existing satellites but hopefully the transit through the new terminal could be quicker.

[Simon Veness]

It certainly should be, TF, plus they are investing in a high-tech new baggage system, so your suitcases should be with you much quicker.

[spencem]

I guess we'll find out for ourselves how well it all works. We're flying home on October 1st with BA and so, presuming they move on opening day, will get to experience the new terminal. Shame we'll still need to go to the existing one to drop our hire car back but I guess we'll get one last ride of the holiday in on the train between terminals.

[Tiggers Friend]

If you do spencem, love to hear your experience of it.

[Simon Veness]

We've ridden the tram vehicle between the 2 terminals several times, and it is quick and very efficient (it takes a shade under 3mins for the one-way journey):