WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump plans to unveil a $22 billion plan to rebuild Washington Dulles airport, the latest in a series of major projects he announced in the U.S. capital region, sources told Reuters.
Trump, who will be joined by United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at the White House, has been pushing for a massive rebuilding of the airport that is the main international gateway for the national capital region. The plan is expected to include four new concourses. Duffy in May confirmed the federal government planned a $22 billion overhaul of Dulles.
The White House and United did not immediately comment.
United is the largest carrier at Dulles handling about 70% of the traffic. On February 25, Trump held a meeting on the airport’s future that included Kirby, where the CEO pitched the idea of a merger with American Airlines
In December, Trump said he has a new design in mind for Dulles “because it’s not a good airport. It should be a great airport… They have a great building and a bad airport.”
Critics say Dulles needs modernization and gripe about slow vehicles that transport passengers across the tarmac, which are expected to be phased out as part of the overhaul. USDOT in December criticized the “jet fuel smell in the concourses” and the “paltry” number of gates in the main terminal.
The airport is operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority under a 50-year lease approved by Congress. MWAA did not comment.
In 2025, the airport authority approved a master capital plan to spend at least $7 billion overhauling Dulles in coming years.
One open question is how the reconstruction will be funded and how much will add to the cost of flights per passenger.
The airport, about 25 miles (40 km) from the U.S. capital, opened in 1962 and had a record year in 2025, handling 29 million total passengers, up 6.4%. This fall, it will get a new 435,000-square-foot (40,412-square-meter), 14-gate concourse serving United customers.
Finnish architect Eero Saarinen designed the airport’s terminal building, a distinctive structure with a sloping roof that sweeps up toward the sky on opposite sides.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Louise Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama )
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