Boston Logan quietly opened its international terminal expansion — here's a look inside

18.08.2023 - 07:09 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy

Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) opened the long-awaited expansion of its international terminal on Tuesday, adding four new gates and a spacious, airy terminal area for passengers. It also added a brand new, top-tier Delta Sky Club lounge.

Despite the years of anticipation over the Terminal E expansion, Tuesday's opening saw little fanfare. The new gates were abruptly put into use and barriers were removed from the hallway between the existing terminal and the new gates. In fact, the only thing that would let a casual traveler know that something was new was the ribbon cutting upstairs at the Sky Club at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, as the terminal officially opened.

A spokesperson for Massport, the state-controlled authority that oversees the airport, told TPG that it was waiting to make an official opening announcement until this fall, noting that the addition was still missing some concessions and a public display. (A new TSA checkpoint has also not yet opened.)

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Nevertheless, the terminal extension is open to passengers, and the new gates are in use. Any ticketed passenger passing through Terminal E — or walking over from the connected Terminals B or C — can take a look at the area.

So that's exactly what this reporter did before a flight on Thursday morning.

Even with the soft launch, the new terminal area is strikingly different from its older section down the hall. For travelers more familiar with Logan, the new gates will already offer a much-needed relief valve and a figurative breath of fresh air.

First announced in 2018, the extension was originally intended to add seven new gates to the 12 existing ones. Revenue loss during the pandemic led to budget cuts, with the project's scope reduced to include four new gates. Massport said earlier this year that three more gates could be added to the extension at a later point.

From the outside, the new building connects abruptly to the existing terminal with a conspicuously different design. At once both futuristic and retro, the exterior evokes both a flying saucer and the famous 1960s TWA terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The deep, bright red color is unique to the terminal and patented by the building's architect, Luis Vidal, as "Boston Red," according to an interview earlier this year in The Boston Globe.

Inside, the extension is just as strikingly different from the original terminal.

The older building is perfectly serviceable but is showing its age and limitations. The terminal opened in the mid-1970s to serve 10 international airlines and 1.5 million international passengers, according to the Globe.

However,