Leaders are hoping to receive a key federal authorization by the end of next year to redevelop Terminal 1 at Reagan National Airport.
In an updated timeline released today (Wednesday), the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) set November 2026 as the goal for receiving environmental approval for the nine-gate project.
The approval is called FONSI, which stands for “finding of no significant impact” under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. For new airport facilities, it is a key hurdle before projects move can forward.
It is one in a long line of procedural steps for a project that is still in the conceptual stage.
“We are very early in the process, so we don’t have any information about a timeline or budget right now,” MWAA spokesman Emily McGee told ARLnow.
In the year leading up to a FONSI declaration, the project has several other regulatory and procedural hurdles to clear, according to the MWAA timeline:
- September-December 2025: Concept validation
- December 2025: Conditional airport-layout plan (ALP) approval from the Federal Aviation Administration
- January-July 2026: Field investigation
Last September, MWAA’s board of directors agreed to spend up to $108 million over an eight-year span for architectural and engineering services, in preparation for redeveloping Terminal 1 and adjacent areas.
This would result in demolishing the nine-gate Terminal 1 — fondly known as the “banjo” for its design featuring a spine running from the other terminal facilities, connecting them to a circular gate area.
Built in the 1960s, it is the oldest part of the 84-year-old airport still in use for passenger boarding. Southwest is the major tenant, but Air Canada and Frontier also use it.
The new terminal would be constructed next to the existing Terminal 1 but not directly on the site. Potentially, that could allow for phasing the transition of operations between the old and new facilities.
MWAA has been working with Southwest over the past year to discuss options.
Construction of temporary garage continues
In another capital-project update for Reagan National, MWAA said it expects to have the first phase of its temporary parking garage completed in February.
The first phase will add 939 parking spaces. A second phase, expected to open in May, will add another 1,230.
The extra spaces, located in the long-term parking area, will help compensate for a loss of parking at the airport’s primary garages in coming years. Those areas will be needed as staging for upcoming reconstruction of the airport’s interior road network.
For the time being, work on the temporary garage has taken away spaces from the long-term surface lot. That could mean challenges for those parking at the airport during peak times, including the upcoming November-December holiday season.
Airport officials have encouraged motorists to make advance reservations, which will guarantee them a spot.
