Industry News
Sainsbury’s opens first-ever airport store
Edinburgh Airport in Scotland has opened a new BrewDog bar and Sainsbury’s first ever airport store. These openings come as the airport, now part of the Vinci Airports network, continues to revamp its selection of restaurants, bars and shops.
Sainsbury’s, which can be found in the unit previously used by M&S Simply Food, before security, comes with an in-store bakery and an Argos collection point and offers passengers essentials after they’ve landed in Edinburgh.
Continue reading Sainsbury’s opens first-ever airport store at Passenger Terminal Today.
Skyports and Bicester Motion break ground at UK vertiport
Skyports Infrastructure and Bicester Motion, a 444-acre future mobility estate in Bicester in Oxfordshire, have broken ground on the UK’s first vertiport testbed.
Vertiport terminal
The vertiport is a key output of the Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium, an Innovate UK Future Flight Challenge project. It is currently under construction on a plot of 0.42 acres (0.17 hectares). This area will include a compact 160m2 passenger terminal.
Once complete, it will be a facility for testing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flight operations, ground infrastructure and air traffic management.
Glasgow Airport rolls out AI-powered digital assistant
Glasgow Airport has launched a digital assistant, powered by Hello Lamp Post, to improve the travel experience for passengers this festive period.
AI-powered digital assistant
This AI-driven technology is now live across the airport, and is designed to provide real-time information and enhance navigation throughout the terminal 24 hours a day, optimizing the experience for travelers. This digital assistant is a part of the airport’s ongoing efforts to enhance accessibility and ensure all passengers have a seamless experience.
Continue reading Glasgow Airport rolls out AI-powered digital assistant at Passenger Terminal Today.
Washington Dulles International to open US$500m Concourse E in 2026
United Airlines and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) will open the half-a-billion-dollar Concourse E at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia in late 2026. The 435,000ft2, 14-gate concourse will include an expansive new United Club location and customer amenities.
The new Concourse E has been enabled in part due to collaboration between United and MWAA, and local and federal funding such as grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for airport improvement projects that will help facilitate Dulles’s expansion.
GOAA board approves multi-million-dollar investment in Orlando International’s Terminals A and B
The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) board has approved a series of major projects at Orlando International Airport (MCO) that will transform passenger areas at Terminals A and B and the airport’s parking garages.
The board unanimously approved a US$13m project to install parking guidance system technology throughout MCO’s parking garages. The board also approved plans for a line-up of new restaurant and retail options. These projects are part of a broader multi-million-dollar, multi-year investment to enhance the overall experience for the nearly 60 million passengers who visit MCO annually, and for future passenger growth.
PANYNJ approves US$9.4bn 2025 budget to bolster security and advance airport redevelopment
Following a month-long public comment period, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Board of Commissioners has approved the agency’s US$9.4bn 2025 budget, which includes US$4.1bn in operating expenses, US$3.6bn in capital expenses, and US$1.7bn for debt service and deferred expenses. The investment level spans the redevelopment of the region’s major airports.
PANYNJ’s infrastructure construction plans
The capital spending in the 2025 budget will fund: major construction progress at John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport on the supporting infrastructure for new terminals 1 and 6, as well as the rebuilding of the entire airport roadway network as part of the airport’s transformation into a world-class gateway; the planning and design work needed to move forward on the EWR Vision Plan to transform Newark Liberty into a 21st-century international gateway with a new on-airport mass transit system serving all terminals that will replace the existing AirTrain Newark that opened in the 1990s; and the project to add pedestrian access from underserved Newark and Elizabeth communities to the Newark Airport Rail Link station, expanding mass transit and airport access for people in those communities seeking faster options to employment at the airport or in New York City via NJ Transit or Amtrak.
Gold Coast and Townsville airports to run on 100% renewable energy from January 2025
Under a new seven-year agreement between CS Energy and Queensland Airports Limited (QAL), operations at Gold Coast and Townsville airports will switch to 100% renewable energy at midnight on January 1, 2025.
Renewable energy projects from CS Energy’s offtake portfolio in regional Queensland – such as Kennedy Energy Park and solar farms at Columboola, Hughenden and Moura – will help generate the 30GWh needed by Townsville and Gold Coast Airports annually to power operations, from lighting and air conditioning to escalators and charging stations.
Curie completes security equipment monitoring trial at Nice airport
Curie Technologies has concluded a trial of its petiteC software at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport. The collaboration began in summer 2024.
The petiteC cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform is designed to help security professionals monitor, maintain and report on their equipment.
The Nice trial was conducted in three phases. During the first phase, asset tags were affixed to security equipment within one security checkpoint with all security equipment onboarded to the platform and training conducted.