International Terminal Construction Could Begin This Year

Concourse E. Photo taken Aug. 30, 2024 by Graham Kilmer.

Construction on the new international terminal at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is expected to begin this summer.

Airport Director Brian Dranzik told county supervisors he anticipates construction on the $95.2 million project could begin as early as July.

The airport began planning for a new international terminal in 2015. The existing terminal is outdated, too small for modern aircraft and disconnected from the airport’s main terminal. The plan is to redevelop Concourse E, which has been closed since 2017, into a modern terminal, with two gates and capacity for 400 passengers at a time.

By 2019, the airport secured the authority to spend up to $55 million on the project. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 delayed the project, and inflation and rising construction costs pushed the project budget higher. Earlier this year, the airport put the project out to bid. Based on the response from contractors, the airport estimates it will cost an additional $38 million to develop the project. That, plus approximately $2.6 million in additional design costs, increases the price tag to more than $95 million.

Dranzik was before the county board’s Committee on Finance on Thursday requesting authorization to increase the expenditure authority for the project. The new terminal will be built using a mix of federal grants and airport revenue. In 2024, the airport secured an $8.5 million grant from the federal government through the Airport Terminals Program (ATP). Officials plan to apply for another ATP grant this year.

The ATP program was funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). President Donald Trump‘s administration has attempted to roll back BIL allocations since taking office earlier this year, leaving many projects in a state of uncertainty.

The international terminal project has support from County Executive David Crowley‘s administration, elected officials representing Milwaukee and Wisconsin, as well as the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

The current international terminal, built in 1975, is viewed as a hindrance to expanding international service at Milwaukee Mitchell. For starters, it can only process arrivals. Departing passengers fly out of the main airport terminal, and travelers with connecting flights have to use some form of ground transportation to catch their connection at the stand-alone international terminal.

The building is also undersized for modern aircraft, particularly those used on long international flights, like Boeing 767 and 787 aircraft. The terminal only has space for approximately 140 travelers at a time, which is less than the aircraft’s passenger capacity.

The airport has spent years trying to capture more business from local flyers who might otherwise fly out of Chicago. But that’s been a very difficult pitch to those traveling internationally.

In 2018, it released data showing that only 35% of local travelers were using Milwaukee Mitchell to fly internationally. Once complete, the new terminal is expected to attract more service from the major carriers and boost international travel to and from Milwaukee.

If more travelers fly Milwaukee, it will also generate more revenue and help the airport pay off the debt it is issuing for infrastructure upgrades like the international terminal, said Harold Mester, a spokesperson for the airport.