Gorgeous: Delta Unveils New LaGuardia Airport Terminal

That new-airport-smell is here for Delta flyers at LaGuardia. The $8 billion total reconstruction of the New York City airport that everyone loves to hate (for good reason) has been well underway for a few years. All of LGA is being redone from the ground up led by a consortium called LaGuardia Gateway Partners as well as by Delta directly.

Delta is spending a cool $3.9 billion on its own construction masterplan and terminal of its own — and the airline’s first new concourse will be opening seven new gates on Monday, November 4.

Delta unveiled photo renderings and some details of the new terminal and how it will coexist with the rest of its older terminal until construction is completed in a couple of years. (This post will be updated once we get non-rendered photos.)

The other half of the airport work is managed by LGA Gateway Partners and will eventually house all flights for American Airlines, Air Canada, Southwest, and United. One concourse has actually been complete since December. (Spoiler alert: It’s nice and a massive, massive improvement over anything in LGA’s recent past.)

Delta’s New LaGuardia Terminal

When complete, Delta’s new terminal will feature a total of 37 gates across four concourses with a central check-in lobby, security, and baggage claim. There will be a new, large Delta SkyClub lounge (with a Sky Deck!) as well.

Delta promises that this new 100,000 square-foot concourse (again, the first of four) will have stellar views of Citi Field and Flushing Bay and feature state-of-the art facilities including locally inspired food from some New York favorites. There will be outlets and seating galore along with tablets to track the status of flights.

Here is what we’re talking about food-wise for this first concourse that is opening:

• Rossi Pizzeria, a Neapolitan-style pizza and calzone concept
• Flatiron Tavern & Provisions, a contemporary tavern that will feature chops, burgers and fresh fish
• Birch Coffee
• H&H Bagels
• Juice Press

A pedestrian walkway (which you can see below) will connect the current terminal with the new concourse.

The first new Delta concourse will be right along Flushing Bay

Here are the some additional renderings of Delta’s new LaGuardia terminal:

The Upshot

These photos look absolutely gorgeous, and I particularly love the use of glass to let light into the concourses. At the moment, most of LaGuardia is one sad and drab blob with a desperate need for more natural light. And this is just the beginning for Delta and the other airlines over in Terminal B. Over the coming years, as more concourses come on line, LGA should truly be a state-of-the-art airport that will actually welcome passengers to New York City.

Of course, getting to Manhattan is a whole other issue entirely. The Port Authority of New York just submitted plans to the FAA for an AirTrain to connect to LaGuardia with the 7 train subway and the Long Island Railroad to Manhattan, but there’s a ton of opposition. The cost? $2 billion. (It was originally slated to be $450 million.) Yikes.