The small towers you see attached to the terminals are to manage the ramp area AFAIK.

^ yeah, i think ORD has just the 3 main towers for actual ATC work - the north tower, the main tower, and the south tower.

someone correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think the old ATC tower in front of the hilton is used for anything anymore.

British Airways is bringing the Airbus A380 to O'Hare daily starting June 1, 2022.

Emirates could very well bring the A380 to O'Hare as well depending on demand and now that there will be 2 A380 gates, both British Airways and Emirates could theoretically operate daily A380 service to ORD. Emirates has expressed interest in the past to bring the A380 to ORD and did for a one-off back in 2016.

I don't know what you are talking about here. Emirates operates a daily flight to ORD from DXB and ORD was the first US airport to reach it's pre-pandemic schedule from Emirates. The only US airports with more service from Emirates are LAX (also daily but sees the A380 vs the 777), and JFK which has 2x daily A380 service (plus the freedom routes). I think ORD-DXB is also Emirates 3rd most occupied US route behind only LAX-DXB and JFK-DXB

Just to clarify, there isn't any planned work on the existing portion of Terminal 5, correct? I am assuming all of the interior renderings presented in your post are from the new addition wrapping up, but this rendering shows more glass on the existing portion than what is there now.

Bnk is talking about the A380. He would have to go to LAX or JFK in the USA pre pandemic to see many A380's. The biggest problem with the A380 always was it's hard to fill, and they have no cargo version. Dead in the water, and many Europeans thought that even before they built it.

They did alot of work on the old section of T5. Look at the photo you posted.

I guess it's the rendering then. I didn't pay much attention the last time I was in T5, but I don't remember that massive glass exposure to the Southwest in the main wing of T5. Also, the structure of the building there doesn't match what's currently in existence. Hence my confusion.....

https://www.flickr.com/gp/155580150@N05/71pjx8
This is why I was asking if there's work being done on the main existing wing of T5 - That glass box portion sticking out doesn't currently exist, or is Google out of date here?......

The new section is still under construction and is not shown in the google photo. Yes it will look like the rendering, and most of the structure is up.

You know what, I didn't even realize they were doing any work on the interior of the existing structure.

Per https://urbanize.city/chicago/post/o...ruction-photos

"The wedge-shaped addition will span 350,000 square feet and provide 10 new gates to increase the terminal's gate capacity by 25 percent. A further 750,000 square feet within the existing structure is also being remodeled to accommodate expanded security checkpoints, reconfigured immigration and customs, improved baggage handling systems, and space for airline lounges, concessions, and other passenger amenities."

That's pretty awesome actually. All this time I had just assumed the only work was the addition.

These interior shots are of the expansion (hence the higher gate numbers that don't exist yet):

https://304ljw4amcep3ali496xph6b-wpe...-1536x1027.jpg

https://304ljw4amcep3ali496xph6b-wpe...-1536x1027.jpg

This interior shot is of that new addition to the existing portion of the terminal (hence the roof design):

https://304ljw4amcep3ali496xph6b-wpe...-1536x1027.jpg

Thanks for clarifying! That will do wonders for the existing portion of Terminal 5. I just got more excited to see how the final product looks!

B1M posted a video about the reno of O'Hare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pnea6PrMmI

https://www.theb1m.com/video/chicago...d-construction

Inside Chicago's $8.5BN Airport Rebuild

"CHICAGO O'HARE was once the world’s busiest airport. It held that title for three decades and became one of the great American infrastructure projects of the early Jet Age.

But in recent years it’s hit a bit of turbulence. Though it still attracts more than 80 million passengers in a normal year, most of those people probably don’t have this down as their favourite place to fly from.

Delays, congestion and a lack of amenities are common complaints and since the late 1990s the place has begun to feel more than a bit … tired.

But that’s all about to change as O’Hare embarks on a multi-billion-dollar transformation, a megaproject that’ll give this aviation landmark a much-needed lift."


By Adam Savage (lol)
02 February 2022

I like these types of videos!

I also made a similar type of video on the expansion project just over a year ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW7O8zDGC7U

Nice to see coverage on this.

Christmas in February! The B1M did an episode on ORD21!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pnea6PrMmI

B1M makes quality videos. Definitely enjoyed this one.

Edit: Uf, didn't see @MAC123 beat me to it with the B1M link. Oh well the more the merrier.

No new information in it but nice to see the Chicago expansion is getting some attention. That's the idea - let people know that Chicago is a modern city. Hopefully this will continue to brand Chicago well and attract more interest for the next decade as all the phases are rolled out.

ORD back up for Air New Zealand still in late September 2022 fingers crossed.

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/lifesty...-hawaii-seoul/

I was on this flight in Jan 2020 on my way back from Antarctica and it was pretty busy (and not just with USAP people, though I feel bad for the random guy in the center seat between me and another USAP participant...). Anyway it's crucial for maintaining 6-continent status until we get the Brisbane flight (if that's happening...).

Thats a long flight. I was wondering how long it would be.

This link says just over 16 hours. Which according to what is said below would be the longest NZ non stop fight to the USA.


https://www.moatrek.com/blog/how-lon...ew-zealand-usa