US plans $22 billion rebuilding of Washington Dulles airport

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - ‌U.S. Transportation Secretary ​Sean Duffy ​said on Tuesday that the federal government plans a $22 billion rebuilding of Washington Dulles airport.

"We're going to rebuild Dulles," Duffy said at a Washington ‌conference, saying it would cost roughly $22 billion.

President Donald Trump has been ⁠pushing for a massive rebuilding of the airport that is the main international gateway for the national capital ‌region. The airport is also ‌a major United Airlines hub.

Airport Architecture, a website, reported on Monday it had reviewed a $22 billion proposed revitalization plan shared with airlines in May that includes a terminal ​expansion and four new concourses to be completed by 2034.

Duffy told Reuters after the remarks it would be a "brand-new airport" but added there were still details being ⁠worked through. He declined to say how much of the project the government's share might be.

On February 25, Trump ​held a meeting on the airport's future that included United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, whose company handles nearly 70% of the traffic at ​Dulles. United did not immediately comment.

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. 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 immediately comment Tuesday.

In 2025, the airport authority approved a master capital plan to spend at least $7 billion overhauling Dulles in coming ‌years.

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 Mark Porter and ‌David Gregorio)

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