Sea-Tac fully reopens its Central Terminal as problems surround International Arrivals Facility

It was a big milestone for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which fully reopened its Central Terminal Thursday.

The project has been ongoing since 2018.

• Follow this link to read additional stories from KIRO 7

“In this area we’ve opened up two new options, and that’s the Salty’s at the SEA which is a local PNW favorite, as well as a Brewtop Social, which is the first beer and wine garden at an airport,” said Khalia Moore, Senior Manager, Airport Dining and Retail services.

The reopening comes as airport officials try to redesign the brand new International Arrivals Facility, which was just completed last year.

Plans called for 20 wide-body planes to fit, allowing for 2,600 international passengers to funnel through per hour, but there’s an issue with four gates, and only 16 planes fit.

“That’s been an ongoing challenge for us, it’s really, you know, our contractors that really own this burden,” said Fred Felleman, Commissioner for the Port of Seattle.

This debate could be heading to court. According to the Seattle Times, Clark Construction, the group contracted for the project, sued the airport for more than $60 million, claiming it wasn’t being paid for the extra work connected to design changes.

Then in January, the airport countersued for more than $100 million in damages that included reworking the project.

“The whole project was an enormous undertaking and unique in its bridge and all that structure, so we are very proud of the ultimate look of it, but obviously its primary purpose was to accommodate the wide-body jets, so that is a failure that we are continuing to work toward,” said Felleman.

As for how much the redesign will cost, airport officials are not saying a dollar amount just yet.

“That requires a whole — another engineering exercise to make those estimates, and then they have to bid on it,” said Felleman.

• Follow this link to read additional stories from KIRO 7