United States plans $22 billion renovation of Washington Dulles Airport

(Patria) - U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced that the federal government plans a $22 billion renovation of Washington Dulles Airport, Reuters reported.

"We are going to rebuild Dulles," Duffy said at a conference in Washington, stating that it would cost approximately $22 billion.

President Donald Trump is pushing for a massive overhaul of the airport, which serves as a major international gateway for the capital region. The airport is also a major hub for United Airlines.

Airport Architecture website reported on Monday that it had reviewed a proposed $22 billion revitalization plan, shared with airlines in May, which includes expanding the terminal and adding four new concourses, expected to be completed by 2034.

Duffy told Reuters after these statements that it would be a "brand new airport," but added that details are still being worked out. He declined to say what the government's share in the project might be.

Trump held a meeting on February 25 about the future of the airport, which was also attended by United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, whose company handles nearly seventy percent of traffic at Dulles Airport. United did not immediately comment.

In December, Trump said he had a new design in mind for Dulles "because it's not a good airport. It should be a great airport... They have a great building and a bad airport."

Critics say Dulles needs modernization and complain about the slow vehicles transporting passengers across the tarmac. The Department of Transportation criticized in December the "smell of jet fuel in the concourse" and the "pathetic" number of gates in the main terminal.

The airport is operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) under a fifty-year lease approved by Congress.

In 2025, the airport authority approved a major capital plan to spend at least seven billion dollars on the overhaul of Dulles Airport in the coming years.

The airport, located about forty kilometers from the U.S. capital, opened in 1962 and had a record year in 2025, with a total of 29 million passengers, an increase of 6.4%. This fall, it will receive a new 40,412 square meter terminal with fourteen gates that will serve United Airlines passengers.

Finnish architect Eero Saarinen designed the airport's terminal building, a recognizable structure with a sloping roof that rises towards the sky on opposite sides.