The White House announced that President Trump will hold a meeting on Wednesday, February 25th to discuss his plan to revamp a major international airport in the Washington, D.C. area. Last December, he strongly criticized the design plans for the airport.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is also expected to attend the meeting to participate in planning the future of Washington Dulles International Airport, which has been in operation since 1962 and is located approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the nation’s capital.
The airport is planning to reopen a new 435,000 square foot (40,412 square meters) terminal with 14 gates in the fall, to serve United Airlines passengers.
According to the airport authority’s report on Tuesday, in 2025, the airport set a record with 29 million passengers, a 6.4% increase compared to the previous year, while its competitor, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, saw a 5.4% decrease in passenger traffic.
Trump stated in December last year that he plans to rebuild Dulles Airport because it is “not a good airport, it should be a great airport… They have a beautiful building and they run a terrible airport.”
Trump also mentioned that he has a new design plan in mind for Dulles Airport.
The US Department of Transportation publicly called for comprehensive revamp proposals for Dulles Airport in December last year, which includes the possibility of demolishing the historically significant main terminal designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, considered a masterpiece of mid-century modernism.
The department criticized the main terminal for its “jet fuel smell” and insufficient number of gates, stating that Dulles Airport “is no longer a suitable and grand airport for the nation’s capital.”
Dulles Airport is operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority under a 50-year lease approved by Congress.
The airport was named after John Foster Dulles, who served as the US Secretary of State during the 1950s under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
(Credit: This article refers to a report from Reuters)