History of Dulles Airport
President Kennedy at the formal dedication of Washington Dulles International Airport on November 17, 1962.
Washington Dulles International Airport was designed by the internationally renowned architect, Eero Saarinen and officially opened its doors to travelers in 1962.
Washington Dulles is situated on 16,000 acres of land in Loudoun County, Virginia. Mr. Saarinen's developed a master plan for the Airport that over time would include a Main Terminal and concourses.
Travelers would be transported from the Main Terminal to the concourse via Mobile Lounges that we specifically designed for this Airport. Mr. Saarinen used the color gray throughout the Airport because he envisioned that the people would bring color to the Terminal.
Today, the Main Terminal has been designated as a historic site by the National Preservation for Historic Buildings.
The Mobile Lounge has been the passenger conveyance system at the airport since 1962
Over the years, Washington Dulles has grown to service nearly 20 million passengers a year and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is working hard to accommodate that growth.
The Airports Authority has been implementing a major Capital Development Program at Washington Dulles to better serve our passengers. Improvements include 2 parking garages, 2 covered pedestrian connectors from the garages to the Main Terminal, additional ticket counters, upgrading the historic Main Terminal, a new Concourse B, a new regional concourse, as well as roadway and runway improvements.
More than 600,000 passengers used the airport during the first year of operation.
Most recently the Authority has begun construction on the highly anticipated automated people mover system, or, underground train system that will eventually link all concourses to the Main Terminal.
We anticipate opening the new train system by the end of 2009.
