Three-level expansion will bolster MIA’s South Terminal

Miami International Airport is working on a vital expansion project that will stretch out its South Terminal to meet its growing passenger demand, which is projected to increase 50% by 2040.

Announced by Aviation Director Ralph Cutié before the county’s Airport and Economic Development Committee last October, the $754 million South Terminal expansion design-build package was set to be advertised this January.

While there’s no word yet on the contract award, the expansion is scheduled to break ground in 2025 and be completed in 2029, Greg Chin, communications director for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, told Miami Today.

The project features a three-level expansion of the arrivals, departures, and passport control areas in the South Terminal to the east of Concourse J that will add six passenger gates with their associated holding rooms.

Miami International Airport’s South Terminal, which includes concourses H and J, currently serves 22 airlines with domestic and international flights and handles 20% of passengers traveling through.

“The expansion will help MIA accommodate its projected passenger growth, which is expected to increase by 50% over the next 16 years,” said Mr. Chin.

In 2022, Miami International Airport ranked second among US airports for international passengers, third for total cargo and freight, eighth for total number of operations and eighth for total passengers.

The Miami-Dade County Commission recently adopted new capital improvement program that will fund up to $6.8 billion in airport-wide modernization projects over the next 5 to 15 years, paving the way for future growth in passenger and cargo traffic, which is projected to reach 77 million travelers and more than 4 million tons of freight by 2040.

Sub-programs of the capital improvement fund include Concourse F modernization, redevelopment and expansion of the Central Terminal and North Terminal’s Regional Commuter Facility as well as new cargo aircraft parking positions, handling facilities and a privately funded airport hotel.

Completed in 2007, the South Terminal extended from Miami International Airport’s Central Terminal and added 1.7 million square feet to the campus. It was the first major expansion since the airport was built in the 1950s.

The airport is a leading economic engine for Miami-Dade County and for the state with an overall impact of nearly $32 billion annually. Aviation and its related activities are responsible for over 275,000 direct and indirect jobs. In the airport’s cargo sector, imports and exports in 2022 increased by 7% for a combined trade value of over $73 billion.