Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2025

Left: John Gallo, deputy chief officer of commercial development for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Below: Bryant Francis, director of port control at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

for this pre-security space that includes a 6,000-square-foot food hall containing three quick-serve opportunities, plus other opportunities including travel convenience, fast-casual dining, casual dining with bar, and grab and go café. DEN will also release RFPs for dining and retail locations in Concourses B and C. In total, there will be 14 RFPs coming out this fall, with five more to come next year. Next up was Todd Carter, senior manager of concessions and revenue development at John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH), who spoke on the airport’s plans for a new terminal, which broke ground in December and is slated to open in 2029. “We’re really excited to get the project underway. The new airport will be built to accommodate 13 million passengers flowing through one security checkpoint, providing greater efficiencies for our customers and a better benefit to our concessionaires,” Carter said. RFPs for the new terminal will be released in the second half of next year, with buildout happening over the course of 2027 and 2028 in time for a 2029 opening. Anne Saxton, director of concessions and business development at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) was next to present, sharing the airport’s plans to release its largest RFP to date in mid-2026. MSP is in the final phase of its largest-ever renovation inside of Terminal

1, a $242-million construction project in partnership with Delta Air Lines and The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) “to create a more unified and modern passenger experience,” said Saxton. The airport also recently started its expansion of Concourse G, which will add 157,000 square feet that will include gate hold space and new concessions locations. “With our RFP, we will be putting out around 50 or so units – we are currently in the process of building these packages,” Saxton said. The RFPs will be for existing units, including retail locations with agreements expiring at the end of 2027 and food and beverage spots with leases expiring at the end of 2028, plus new opportunities in Concourse G that will be available in March 2027. “We know that we will be growing our coffee program and our travel essentials, and we continue to want to maintain a very well-balanced program, highlighting our local streetside brands and also national brands,” Saxon said. Steven Djunaedi, chief commercial officer at Norfolk International Airport (ORF), then spoke on the airport’s largest modernization endeavor since the opening of the existing departures terminal in 1974, which will be happening over the next four-to-five years and “will enhance the passenger experience and increase operational efficiencies for the airlines,

our tenants and the airport authority,” Djunaedi said. Last year ORF completed a rehab at both ends of its primary runway; broke ground on a new flight information service facility to be completed by the end of this year; will start construction on a consolidated rental car center this year to open in 2027; is building a Courtyard Marriott to open next year; and is expanding its Concourse Alpha to add three new gates at the end and hold rooms that will open by the beginning of next year. In addition, in the main terminal, two concourses will undergo a modernization starting late next year that will include consolidating to a single security screening checkpoint and upgrading the concessions and gate area hold room, which will add

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AX NEWS MAY 2025