There has been a lot of construction activity at DFW airport lately so I thought I would provide a bit of a DFW airport update.
Runways:
If you have travelled through DFW lately you might have noticed there is a lot of runway and taxi-way construction and repair. Runway 17R/35L is undergoing a full re-laying of the northern part of that runway.
This is ongoing routine runway rehabilitation work and it should be completed by summer 2024.
Now on most days runway 17C/35C is used for takeoffs and so all landings are on 18R/36L and one of the diagonal runways. There is also construction on one of the taxiways that crosses north of terminal A between the sides of the airport. It looks like they are expanding the layout in that area too, providing a bit more usable taxiway.
In the picture you can see Terminal A to the left and the taxiway that crosses the roads to the right. The whole area between the road and the terminal is being redone.
The airport also started on an end around taxiway on the south-west side of the runways to enable planes to move around the active runways without crossing them. The end around taxiway on the north-east side of the airport was completed last year.
Of course a 4.8 Billion dollar expansion plan was signed in May which includes the cost of terminal F and other items.
Terminal D.
There is an extensive update to the check-in counters in Terminal D being undertaken. Check-in processes for international travelers will be compromised for a while in the near future.
Terminal C.
There are very elegant updates to the waiting areas and the led signage at the end of terminal C from about gate C34 onwards.
Really nice and very clear led panels with all the information you will need to keep you updated on the flights. Also a lot of elegant seating areas and units for charging your devices. We can only hope that they will do more areas like this in other terminals.
There is a new restaurant/bar called Nowitzki named after Dirk Nowitzki, the Hall of Fame basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks. The updated facilities down in Terminal C are lovely.
Interesting planes:
With most airlines ending their association with jumbo jets and moving on to more modern planes, it has become difficult to see any passenger jumbo jets at DFW. Luckily there are still quite a few cargo jumbo jets that use the airport. Below are jumbos from Suparna Airlines and China Airlines.
Below is a Nippon Cargo plane that took off while I was waiting for my flight.
I was in the Capital One lounge which has really big windows which provide a great view of takeoffs and landings on the west side of the airport.
The lounge was rather busy at 1pm in the afternoon. This is the second time in a week that I have seen a representative from the lounge downstairs preventing people from coming up. She puts their name on the list and then allows them up when someone else leaves. It seems that from about 12h30 to 14h30 is the busiest time for that lounge.
While I was taxiing I saw these 2 interesting planes.
A older TWA tail on an American Airlines plane and the Air Canada branded Trans-Canada Air Lines plane.
Review:
Firstly you never know what you might see when you are moving around different airports. I would recommend leaving your shade open so you can see everything that goes by.
There are continuous changes happening at DFW airport. Next year DFW celebrates its 50th anniversary. These new changes and refurbishments will go a long way to enhancing the airport for its next 50 years.
