United Airlines will invest at least $34 million at Washington Dulles International Airport to expand the C-Concourse and construct a new Polaris Lounge.
In a “public-private” partnership, United will front the bill to add an extension to Terminal C in order to house a new Polars Lounge. In exchange, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) will reimburse United $33.8 million for the capital improvements. This repayment will come via direct reimbursement rather than reduced rent.
While the $33.8MN will cover the structure itself, United will pay for all the interior work inside the lounge. Based upon this Powerpoint presentation, the new lounge will be located across the hall from current C17 lounge (meaning United would still maintain four United Clubs at IAD). That’s in the middle of United’s C/D terminal and also near the walkway to the aerotrain station. The new Polaris lounge will be 20,000 square feet, larger than Chicago and Houston but smaller than Newark and San Francisco.
The construction will also “improve the flow” of international arrivals on the lower level. United has not communicated a timeline for completion, though construction will begin next year.
The Dulles “Problem”
Technically, the C and D Terminals at Washington Dulles are temporary terminals. They were constructed in the 1980s with plans for a permanent terminal. Of course, that never occurred. If you ever wondered why the Aerotrain lets you off so far from the actual terminal, the reason is because it is directly under where the “permanent” new terminal was slated to be.
But let’s not fool ourselves. With all the money United and MWAA have invested in the current Terminal C/D, there will be no new terminal. At least for decades to come…
A new Polaris Lounges and continued capital improvements merely signal that the “temporary” terminal is no longer temporary.
CONCLUSION
United had originally predicted its Polaris Lounge at Dulles would open this year. That never happened, of course, but at least we are seeing progress now. As for the “temporary” terminals at IAD: get used to them. They are not going anywhere…
MWAA spent $1.5 billion on the “train to nowhere” that doesn’t even touch Terminal D and another $1.5 billion digging a hole in the ground they call the “security pavilion.” Now they are broke (despite having free land and buildings) and are driving away carriers like Jet Blue because the enplanement fees at Dulles are higher than every airport in country except JFK and Newark Airport run by the corrupt PANYNJ. You would think that United would be interested in a CBP facility to allow international connections.
United already has a CBP facility in the C concourse for international connections… I used it at least three times this summer.
Reason 18392 that DCA has higher passenger numbers than IAD.
Correct. This is why I love Dulles:
https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2016/06/10/international-connections-at-washington-dulles/
Actually this is false, for 2018 IAD has had more pax vs DCA
Not directly related to United but cool nonetheless…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6458255/Washington-Dulles-International-Airport-set-open-nap-pods.html
Just back from. Asia and enjoyed both Singapore Changi Airport and now Jakarta’s new terminal 3. Both airports put Dulles to shame. Why the entry airport to Washington looks like a Third World airport is beyond
Me….poor waiting areas lousy restaurants and slow baggage service. Coming from Asia to Dulles makes me cringe. Metro is being expanded to Dulles…for what? To connect the city with a tired second rate airport. Shame on MWAA for creating such an embarrassing airport.
I actually really like Dulles. I’ve only flown out of the United area once before (and will again in just over a week) as I usually fly Lufthansa / Austrian / British Airways. The main departures area is nice. I’ve got no complaints. If we really want to nitpick we could find faults with many airports. Don’t get me started on Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Vienna or Heathrow.