Portland International Airport (PDX) News

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Not sure how I found this in the...(checks notes)...New York Daily Gazette, and not the Big O I pay a subscription to, but anyway:

https://newyorkdailygazette.com/wyden-me...nternational-airport-to-lower-emissions/



...(continues)

The O seems to miss a lot. I agree with subterranean though, I totally thought the title sounded like they were forking over that cheddar themselves lol

[MarkDaMan]

I'm amazed that they're going to be moving the 9 ACRE ROOF into place this fall!

PDX gives airport visitors a reason to look up ... in 2024
By Kate Davidson (OPB)
July 14, 2022 4:39 p.m.
Workers built a nine-acre wooden roof to cover the airport’s main terminal. Now they’re getting ready to move it.

Forget the carpet. The folks who run Portland International Airport want passengers to start looking up, not down.

“People still love the carpet — and we love that they love that. We also hope that they will love our roof just as much,” said Kama Simonds, a Port of Portland spokesperson.

To that end, installation began this week of a nine-acre wooden roof with mass timber components that will cover the airport’s expanded main terminal. Passengers won’t actually see the roof overhead until 2024, Simonds said. (The current stage of installation involves setting up giant support columns at the terminal.)

But the roof itself is now mostly complete.

Workers built the entire roof 13 feet off the ground on a corner of the airfield, with planes roaring overhead. They put in the wiring, the HVAC system, and the sprinklers. Next, they’ll “unzip” the roof, as Simonds put it — separating it into 20 sections that “Star Wars-like transporters” will begin moving across the airfield in September.

The new roof is natural in feel, with a lattice wooden ceiling that ripples across the airfield.

“It’s an undulating roof. Think motion. Think waves. Gentle rolling hills, even,” Simonds said. “We even had a very creative inquiry about whether or not it was a giant skatepark.”

The roof is intended to be a tribute to the Pacific Northwest, constructed from one of its most iconic products: timber.

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[uncommon.name]

Delta Delays Several Nonstop Tokyo Flights Until Spring 2023

Delta now won't resume its nonstop flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) or Portland (PDX) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) until late March 2023, marking a full three years for either marquee route to Japan since being halted at the start of the pandemic.

Both flights to Japan's capital city had been previously set to resume in late October, joining Delta's existing flights to Tokyo from the likes of Seattle (SEA), Detroit (DTW), and Atlanta (ATL). But over the weekend, Delta adjusted its schedules and pushed back those Minneapolis and Portland routes by another five months.

Continue reading here...

[MarkDaMan]

The roof cassettes are moving into place!

From: The Points Guy

Portland International Airport makeover making progress
Harriet Baskas

With the exception of the new consolidated car rental center, Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) looks pretty much the same from the outside.

However, step into the lobby these days and it’s clear that something’s up.

The terminal lobby is a construction zone. The finished ceiling is gone. And so is the pre-security strip of local retail shops.

Giant signs made to look like sticky notes acknowledge the disruption and offer clues about what’s going on with the multiyear $2 billion PDX Next remodel project in progress. There’s even a tub of foam earplugs that anyone can dip into in case the noise gets too loud.

The key project piece to come is a curved 9-acre “forest-to-frame” terminal roof made entirely of Douglas fir harvested from family, tribal and other local, sustainably managed forests in Oregon and Washington.

Close attention was made to which wood came from where. So, when the giant roof is finally installed it will include “sourced from” signs for various sections.

Building and installing the giant roof is a creative challenge being solved like a puzzle.

Over the past year, crews constructed the roof off-site, on the ground just northwest of the airport. Now they are disassembling what they built into 20 giant football field-size sections dubbed “cassettes.” They’ll move them — very, very slowly and very, very carefully — one by one, across the airfield at night and into position atop giant Y-shaped steel columns.

The first piece of the new roof was moved into place over the course of four days during the final week of August. The other 19 cassettes should be in place by the end of this year. Airport officials say interior work will occur throughout 2023 and visitors and travelers should be able to walk under and enjoy the roof and its skylights by mid-2024.

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[maccoinnich]

Some recent videos of the construction progress, posted by the Port of Portland:

• Video Link

• Video Link

• Video Link

[maccoinnich]

This was announced last month, but in any case:

British Airways Plans Daily Boeing 777 To Portland Next Summer

With 27% more seats per flight, it'll be in time for peak summer.



That didn't take long. Just five months after British Airways' Portland route belatedly took off, it has been confirmed that next summer will see a 1x daily 777-200ER service, up from 5x weekly by the 787-8. Presumably, it is pleased with forward bookings and performance thus far, with the summer period obviously with the highest demand. It could also be part of its plan to free up equipment to launch its next US route.

BA increases Portland to 1x daily
BA began London Heathrow-Portland on June 3rd this year, replacing Delta, which ran between 2017 and 2019. BA originally announced Portland in December 2019, two months after Delta ceased it. It was to begin on June 1st, 2020, but the pandemic ensured it didn't.

...continues at Simple Flying.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

This was announced last month, but in any case:



...continues at Simple Flying.

Great news and a good sign. This could potentially draw more international routes as other Airlines see the demand that BA is getting.

[uncommon.name]

Portland International Airport Five-Year Expansion Project Reaches 50% Completion


Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon, USA, is at its five-year expansion project's 50% completion mark. The improvements, that will ultimately cost $2 billion, include a new Concourse E, expanding Concourse B while demolishing Concourse A, improvements in ground transportation access, and improvements to the main terminal set to open in 2025.

Read more here...

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

Great news and a good sign. This could potentially draw more international routes as other Airlines see the demand that BA is getting.

This has been discussed on here before, but they really need to improve the international arrivals experience at PDX... the sad state of which will be even more noticeable once the new central terminal is completed.

[downtownpdx]

Great to BA expanding its service next year, hopefully a good sign for Portland's tourism industry and reputation going forward. ������

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

This has been discussed on here before, but they really need to improve the international arrivals experience at PDX... the sad state of which will be even more noticeable once the new central terminal is completed.

Yeah, I recall those conversations before. I think it likely goes both ways with a lack of international flights going through PDX, they aren't as likely to invest in International arrival improvements. But if they see a rise in demand, I could see the Port of Portland throwing some money at it, to improve it. They really do take their "Best Airport" title seriously.

[Tanaka07]

Originally Posted by uncommon.name

Great news and a good sign. This could potentially draw more international routes as other Airlines see the demand that BA is getting.

This is true, other airlines will take note of the growth opportunities.

There was talk a few years ago of Lufthansa resuming Portland service after noticing that Condor, IcelandAir, Delta to both Amsterdam and London were all coexisting together to Europe. British Airways apparently noticed this as well and then announced Portland-London in December 2019. BA was the first to act I guess.

Next up as far as new International, Delta, in coordination with Air France, has expressed interest in opening a Paris flight. AeroMexico to Mexico City should be on the horizon as well. Morelia, Mexico is also due to be a new route from PDX on Volaris, once Mexico air safety returns to its category 1 safety rating.

The International arrivals facility will likely need some improvement in the coming years if more flights are added. Next summer the international line up at PDX is shaping up to look like: Tokyo(resumption-last operated 2019), Seoul(new), Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Iceland, London, Los Cabos, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Vancouver(doesn't use arrivals facility), Calgary(doesn't use arrivals facility), Toronto(doesn't use arrivals facility).

The arrivals facility is pretty good if you are making a connection to a domestic flight at PDX-quick and easy. If PDX is your final destination then the bus is required to the backdoor at PDX. This needs to be updated

[maccoinnich]

I’d love to see the Mexico City flight return, but with Mexico City International Airport slot constrained and Felipe Ángeles International Airport not working out as a replacement for the cancelled Mexico City Texcoco Airport, it’s hard to see Portland being a priority for Aeromexico.

[MarkDaMan]

The new PDX Master Plan update project begins in 2023 and will wrap up in 2026. It looks like the Port is putting much more emphasis on this update being more realistic than the current one in place since 2011. I'd expect to see a proposed resolution to our international arrivals experience to be included in that as well. But there will be public comment periods too in case they don't.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

The new PDX Master Plan update project begins in 2023 and will wrap up in 2026. It looks like the Port is putting much more emphasis on this update being more realistic than the current one in place since 2011. I'd expect to see a proposed resolution to our international arrivals experience to be included in that as well. But there will be public comment periods too in case they don't.

Good to know. I'm excited to see what the next Master Plan will include for PDX. With a new terminal nearly doubling the size of the previous one, I can't help but think that their sights will be on increasing passenger counts through the airport and drawing in more routes. Possibly even achieving full hub status at some point with an airline.

[PhillyPDX]

PDX is currently an Alaska hub, and decades ago it used to be a major Delta international hub. I doubt that will happen again because it's not simply about passenger count and tourism, it's geographic strategy (with trends being to de-hub). If you are concerned about it being a true international hub again, unfortunately Alaska operates in a different manner than other big airlines in that it doesn't offer that. Although, being part of the Oneworld alliance now there may be opportunities for some of those international players to connect to the USA market via Portland and Alaska Air. Especially as Delta has made a very aggressive push into Alaska's home turf of Seattle (connecting travelers don't care which city they connect through, so PDX could be alluring).

[maccoinnich]

This post was from seven years ago, but remains true: if American Airlines wants to expand its network in Asia, Portland wouldn't be the worst city to do it from. Indeed, now that Alaska Airlines is in Oneworld it would make even more sense.

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

I wonder if American Airlines might one day consider making PDX into a gateway for flights to Asia, much as Delta has done at SEA? AA is probably going to spend the next year or two finishing its merger with US Airways, but at some point they're going to have to address the major gap in their route network. This article from a year ago explains the geographic problem they have if they want to grow their trans Pacific traffic:

Portland is in a great geographic location to connect travelers from the rest of the continental US to Asia, and unlike the rest of the West Coast airports it can handle a significant increase in the number of flights operating out of it.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

This post was from seven years ago, but remains true: if American Airlines wants to expand its network in Asia, Portland wouldn't be the worst city to do it from. Indeed, now that Alaska Airlines is in Oneworld it would make even more sense.

This was my thought as well. Portland is in a great geographical location for Most of Asia's population centers and such an easy Airport to get in and out of for air traffic with little congestion. I could also see it utilized more for the Pacific Islands.

[PhillyPDX]

The oneworld alliance makes sense with BA flights. They get connected to an Alaska hub and therefore that route network here. Win-win. Now let's get Cathay Pacific here.

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

The oneworld alliance makes sense with BA flights. They get connected to an Alaska hub and therefore that route network here. Win-win. Now let's get Cathay Pacific here.

Cathay Pacific does have cargo flights through PDX currently. That's typically the only 747 you'll see at PDX right now, that I'm aware of.