Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) broke ground Oct. 9 on its fifth passenger terminal, kicking off a three-year construction project.

 

The facility is expected to cost around $404 million to build, which will be financed by airport bonds, Florida Transportation Department grants and passenger facility charges. FLL’s Terminal 5 will be “designed as a two-level, five-gate domestic terminal with check-in/ticketing areas, arrival/departure baggage processing, a security screening checkpoint and retail/food and beverage concessions,” the airport says in a statement.

 

The terminal will span approximately 230,000 ft.² and be situated to the east of the airport’s Terminal 4. A mid-2026 opening is targeted. FLL says it has not been decided which airlines will use the terminal.

 

"The new terminal will help provide the needed critical infrastructure required to propel FLL forward by creating opportunities for new and existing airline partners to grow and help set the stage for future master plan expansion activities," FLL Director Mark Gale says in a statement.

 

He adds that building a “new terminal versus remodeling an existing facility gives [FLL] a blank canvas to creatively seek opportunities to add new amenities and services.”

 

The new facility will add capacity for around 4-5 million annual passengers. The airport expects to handle around 35 million annual passengers this year and projects annual traffic will grow to 52 million yearly passengers within 20 years.

 

ULCC Spirit Airlines is based at FLL and had a leading 31% passenger market share at the airport in August. JetBlue Airways held a 22% share, followed by Southwest Airlines at 12.9% and Delta Air Lies at 11.4%.