New $1.6B concourse breaks ground at LAX

LAX is having another growth spurt.

City officials broke ground Monday on a new five-story concourse at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Once complete, the $1.6 billion passenger building, dubbed the Midfield Satellite Concourse, will have a dozen new gates and a 750,000-square-foot terminal with retail, dining, and lounging spaces as well as an innovative baggage system.

The new concourse is slated to reduce the use of outdoor gates, for which arriving passengers must exit onto the tarmac and shuttle to the Tom Bradley International Terminal by bus.

The project will rise west of the existing Bradley terminal and the two structures will be connected by a 1,000-foot passenger tunnel.

The expansion is part of an ongoing $14 billion redevelopment of LAX. The $2.1 billion Bradley terminal was remodeled and expanded in 2015.