United's aging Washington Dulles digs poised for an upgrade — complete with a huge United Club

10.12.2024 - 14:57 / thepointsguy.com / Scott Kirby

If you fly out of Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport (IAD) these days, you'll see your fair share of cranes and heavy construction equipment.

Beyond the airport's farthest-flung terminal, crews are hard at work on a half-billion-dollar terminal that's expected to house 14 brand-new United Airlines gates by late 2026.

Renderings TPG first shared last winter reveal an airy, natural-lit concourse — one that will someday house a 40,000 square-foot United Club, the Chicago-based carrier revealed this month. Once open, it will be one of the biggest lounges in United's network.

Read more: United Club Infinite Card review: United Club lounge access and elite airline benefits

This construction is central to United's hopes to grow at a breakneck pace at its biggest mid-Atlantic hub, where, in 2024, it flew with 8% more total seats than it did in 2023, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

By April, United hopes to up its daily Dulles departures by 12% from its 2024 peak — and by far more, long-term, CEO Scott Kirby said while speaking to reporters Dec. 3.

"This terminal, really, is about being able to double our international service here at Dulles," Kirby explained, standing on the second level of Dulles' partially constructed Concourse E.

Indeed, there's plenty to be excited about in United's new 435,000-square-foot terminal.

Along with an overall brighter vibe and modern amenities, transportation to the new E terminal will be far more convenient than what most United flyers currently endure at Dulles.

Today, if you're headed to United's Dulles D gates, the airport's notorious people movers remain the most direct ­(albeit unorthodox) route.

Meanwhile, passengers flying out of United's C gates typically take the AeroTrain but face a long walk to their gate after hopping off. The current AeroTrain station that serves the C gates is actually located beneath the new terminal under construction. While that's inconvenient today, it bodes well for the future.

There's an additional perk in this new terminal, too: The capacity it promises should allow United to eventually bid farewell to its ground-level, less-than-stellar regional A gates at the airport — gates that are all too familiar to passengers flying in from the likes of Charlottesville, Virginia; Dayton, Ohio; or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, aboard United Express jets.

At the same time, there remains something of a proverbial elephant in the room: 14 new gates are hardly enough to sunset the aging terminal currently housing the core of United's Dulles hub operation — itself well past its prime.

But plans are forming.

Last week, the airport's governing body told TPG that there still are no construction contracts formalized for a