Airport News

A groundbreaking ceremony held at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport yesterday (13 September) has marked the start of its US$160 million Air Capital Terminal 3 (ACT 3) project that will feature a new passenger terminal, parking garage and car rental facility.

Mayor Carl Brewer, other city council members, and officials representing the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, Go Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau and Wichita Airport Advisory Board attended the ceremony.

“The new terminal will be the airline gateway to the state of Kansas,” Brewer said. “It will serve as a front window into our city and our history. Visitors will know that Wichita gave birth to aircraft manufacturing and that more aircraft have been built here than anywhere in the world.”

The new terminal will replace the existing Mid-Continent terminal, built in 1954, and will feature modern operational and security enhancements that will improve service for passengers and other airport customers. Of the US$160 million budget, US$37 million has been spent on design and programming. The project is funded with airport passenger and aviation user fees, not tax dollars.

In addition to the new terminal building, the project will add a new parking garage and a new rental-car facility, scheduled to open before completion of the new terminal. The parking garage, budgeted at US$40 million, is funded with rental car fees, parking revenues, and general obligation bonds to be retired with airport revenue.

ACT 3 has been designed by HNTB Architecture of Kansas City and will be constructed by Wichita-based Key Construction and Detroit-based Walbridge. Both the designer and contractor are under the guidance of project manager, AECOM.