Salt Lake City Airport is adding five new gates to Hall A
Passengers can now turn right to access five new gates in Concourse A.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A woman waits near the baggage carousel at Salt Lake City International Airport on Friday, December 23, 2022. Five new gates were opened in Hall A.
Travelers passing through security at Salt Lake City International Airport can finally turn right to board a flight.
The airport opened the first five gates on the east side of Concourse A early Tuesday, marking another step in the expansion of the growing facility.
“Our airport is changing and growing to keep up with our capital city,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a press release, “and I’m pleased that these new gates are now open to better serve our residents and travelers. “
The new gates are the first to open since October 2020, when airport officials unveiled the gates in Concourse B. The old airport was demolished to make way for the extension of Concourse A.
“Opening the first gates on the east side is very rewarding,” Airport Managing Director Bill Wyatt said in the press release. “Since the opening of Phase 1 more than two years ago, we have worked non-stop to get to this point. It took a lot of demolition, a lot of steel and a lot of paving to be here today.”
A Delta Air Lines flight to Atlanta — where the company is headquartered — was the first to exit the newly created A Gates. Delta, which recently signed an expansion contract to become the hub carrier in the Utah capital, will occupy all of Concourse A when the new wing is fully expanded.
While the new gates will not add new flights to the daily schedule, they will make travel more convenient for some passengers who previously had to take a shuttle from Concourse B to their aircraft.
Airport officials hope additional gates will eventually result in more flights departing from Salt Lake City to more destinations.
Four more doors of the Hall A extension are scheduled to open on August 22, with the remaining 13 doors scheduled to open on October 31. When the entire east side of the concourse is completed, it will house 19 shops and restaurants including Millcreek Coffee Roasters, Vessel Kitchen and Red Rock Brewery.
The next big step in the airport’s expansion is expected to come in October 2024, when officials aim to shorten the dreaded walk to Gates B by opening the central tunnel.
Travelers passing through the tunnel are greeted in Concourse B by the old airport’s popular terrazzo world map.
