New commercial passenger terminal at Paine Field starting to take shape

EVERETT, Wash. — The new commercial passenger terminal at Everett’s Paine Field is starting to take shape.

Though construction continues, for the first time, KIRO 7 was able to go beyond the gates and see the new multi-million dollar terminal that will be home to three airlines: Alaska, United and Southwest.

The developer said construction is on track for opening day this fall.

The steel beams went up earlier this month. We also saw crews putting up glass panels which will allow passengers in the waiting area a view of the Olympic Mountain range as they are waiting for their flights.

The goal is to make the small terminal feel more like a hotel than an airport for people looking for travel options other than Sea-Tac Airport.

The two-gate terminal is much smaller than Sea-Tac, which has 80 gates.

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“When you have 46 million passengers a year, it’s hard to give a truly personalized experience. When you are doing a small fraction of that, you can offer a lot of products and services that you don't see,” said Brett Smith with Propeller Airports.

The developer said they’re expecting more business than leisure travelers.

Some of those services the terminal is set to offer include a restaurant, bar, high speed internet and valet parking.

We asked if it will be more expensive to fly out of the smaller airport.

“What the airlines have conveyed to us is that the fares will be on par with Sea-Tac, so think about it -- if it's $200 more you would sit in two hours' worth of traffic to get there -- they don't want that to happen,” said Smith.

In terms of security, the airport is working on a plan which will be approved by the FAA.

We’re told there will three security lines and local roads are being redesigned to help handle the added traffic.

There will also be parking spaces for 1,100 cars.

Cox Media Group