The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is making progress on its 1.2 million square foot project at the San Diego International Airport, recently announcing the completion of a $1.94 billion bond. The project, which will fund Terminal 1, was approved in the fall of 2021 and is expected to cost $3.4 billion once completed.
“The Airport Authority continues to be in a strong financial position and this bond sale reflects the market’s confidence in our ability to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kimberly Becker, Airport Authority President and CEO, said. “These funds allow us to continue the momentum of the new T1, providing funds for construction and in turn benefiting the region through jobs and economic investment.”
According to the Airport Authority, Approximately $1.58 billion of the bond will be used to pay for a portion of the new T1 program and achieve an interest cost of 3.34 percent. In turn, the financing costs of the project will be reduced by about $386.5 million over the life of the program.
Additionally, approximately $357.2 million of the remaining bond will be used to refinance the Airport Authority’s debt, which has existed since 2013.
The project was initially approved in October of 2021, and will allow the Airport Authority to replace the 53-year old terminal while also adding an additional 30 gates. In partnership with Flatiron Development and Turner Construction, the project will also add gate-area seating, restaurants and shopping as well as additional security checkpoints to the terminal.
Roadway and transportation improvements will also be completed at the terminal to provide easier access to the airport. Once completed, the improvements are anticipated to reroute an estimated 45,000 vehicles per day from the airport’s Harbor Drive entrance.
Expected to be completed in 2027, the project will take place in two phases. The first phase of construction began in November of 2021 and is expected to be completed in 2025. During this time, the development team will add 19 gates. Following the initial phase of instruction, the development team will add 11 new gates. In total, the airport will have 62 gates by the time of the project’s completion.
According to the Airport Authority, the San Diego International Airport is one of the busiest single-runway commercial airports in the world. It is also the third busiest in California and contributes approximately $12 billion in economic activity to the region while creating nearly 20,000 construction jobs by connecting the world to San Diego and San Diego to the world. The new terminal is anticipated to help with growing tourism rates, with most recent data in 2019 indicating that terminal 1 saw more than 12 million passengers. When initially built in the 1960s, the terminal served 2.5 million passengers.
