‘We will enhance the O'Hare experience from curb to gate’: Work begins on new concourse

Chicago leaders broke ground on O'Hare International Airport's latest concourse Monday, a project that will bring new gates and flights, officials said.

Concourse D is on the southwest end of the airfield and will initially connect with Terminal 1's Concourse C by a bridge.

“Today we begin building for the future of O'Hare,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

The 19 new gates will accommodate a variety of aircraft from narrow-bodied to international wide-bodied, which will reduce layovers and allow for greater efficiency, Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Michael McMurry said.

“With Concourse D, we take the next bold step forward,” Johnson said. “We will enhance the O'Hare experience from curb to gate.”

It's the airport’s first satellite concourse and is part of a major construction program that will include tearing down Terminal 2 and replacing it with a Global Terminal.

Another new satellite, Concourse E, is scheduled to be built in the coming years, and both will be linked to the airport by an underground tunnel.

The Concourse D project will cost $1.3 billion, including $300 million in supporting infrastructure such as a new central cooling facility and pavement and utilities to related to Concourse E.