Airport Experience® News - Food & Beverage Issue 2026

LATEST BUZZ SDF’S BIG BET SDF Next Program Spending Hits $1 Billion As Louisville’s Airport Builds Toward International Service

BY DAVID GORDON

total investment will top more than $1 billion in improvements to the terminal and airfield when it’s all done.” Building The Base The first phase was infrastructure no passenger would ever notice until it failed. SDF spent the early years of the program on the unglamorous work. Rental car operations moved to the first level of the parking garage, giving customers covered, accessible service with grab and-go convenience. A dedicated Airport

ouisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) is in the middle of a billion-dollar

Above: The SDF Next Program, encompassing more than $1 billion in terminal improvements, is underway at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

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transformation. Launched in late 2019, the SDF Next Program set out to modernize aging infrastructure and build toward what was possible. Six years later, with nearly $370 million in completed projects and a pipeline that will push total investment past $1 billion, the scope has grown well beyond anyone’s original expectations. “Initially, we thought it would be $100 to $150 million in total projects,” says Dan Mann, executive director at SDF. “Now,

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AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2026