After decades of planning and nearly five years of construction, vision became reality at Orlando International Airport (MCO) as an Aer Lingus flight from Manchester, England helped open Terminal C to the public. The $2.8 billion project features 15 additional gates to increase MCO passenger capacity by 25 percent or 10-12 million annual passengers.
“This day has been a long time coming but we’re finally here. Terminal C is open and what a benefit it is to the community,” says Kevin Thibault, chief executive officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “This state-of-the-art terminal is leading the way to a truly intermodal future for all of Central Florida, where passengers will be able to take a plane, a train or an automobile from one location. Today, the vision has become reality.”
The airlines servicing Terminal C include, Aer Lingus, Azul, British Airways, Caribbean Airlines, Emirates, GOL, Icelandair, Lufthansa, Norse and the anchor airline is JetBlue.
Terminal C factoids:
- It is estimated the 10 Terminal C airlines annual economic impact to Central Florida to be over $5.6 Billion dollars
- 15 gates capable of accommodating up to 20 aircraft
- State of the art RFID (radio frequency identification) tags on all baggage
- Early bag storage
- Bags first international arrival area
- Automated TSA screening lanes
- More than 1000 video display screens provide directional and flight information
- 33 retail and food and beverage concepts including local and national brands
- Designed for certification as one of the first LEEDv4 airport campuses
