A new lounge and sports team-themed baggage carousels were unveiled at the Edmonton International Airport Saturday, marking the latest completed phase of the airport’s expansion project.
The new Domestic-International Passenger Lounge features four new restaurants, five new stores and four new art displays. The Canada Border Services Agency Arrivals Hall has also been completed - featuring three baggage carousels with Edmonton Eskimos, Oilers and Oil Kings displays.
“What we’ve got here is a whole new host of food and beverage and retail shopping experiences,” said Reg Milley, CEO with the Edmonton Airport Authority.
“We’ve got brand new partners which are our iconic sports teams in the Edmonton region. We have the Oilers, the Eskimos and the Oil Kings represented.”
Previously there had been two carousels in the arrivals hall. The new third carousel is expected to double the speed of baggage delivery. There are also additional airport gates.
“We’ve added an additional nine loading bridges and gates. We can bring more aircraft into the building to be able to take more people out to the building. It opens the capacity where we can get more flights to more places,” Milley said.
“It allows us to grow. It allows us to get more flights. It’s a nice and steady pleasing place for passengers to sit and wait.”
The new lounge marks the last phase of the airport’s terminal expansion and comes as the airport celebrates a busy flying season and continued growth. The EIA's busiest month ever was in August. The airport is Canada’s fastest-growing major airport with 6.5 million people flying through over the past 12 months.
The airport’s 2012 expansion project will be completed at the end of the year with the opening of a new combined office and control tower. A major hotel connected to the terminal will open in 2013.
Milley said the airport’s Expansion 2012 project has cost $650 million.
