Passengers flying in and out of the Pittsburgh International Airport will embark on a new travel experience when it's new landside terminal opens later this year.

Construction on the $1.57 billion terminal modernization project is more than 80-percent complete. The new landside terminal will connect to the airside terminal, eliminating the "people mover" shuttle rides to flight gates.

21 News was invited to join the final media tour ahead of its grand opening to the public.

With regional travel trends shifting to more leisure and destination travel, the airport is preparing to offer a re-imagined experience that promises to streamline the time it takes to get passengers where they need to go.

"It's going to be shorter wait times, shorter walk times, you're going to be able to get to your gate faster," Paul Hoback said, Allegheny County Airport Authority Chief Development Officer.

The new landside terminal will offer 3,000 new covered parking spaces and roughly 2,900 new outdoor parking spots.

"Right now, we have less than 1,000 covered spaces and we're in the snow belt in the Northeast, United States and we get a lot of rain days, so we're going to improve the passenger experience," he said.

The three level terminal's design will keep most passengers on one level, which will limit how much departing and arriving passengers will intermix. 

Putting the terminal right next to the airside terminal will shorten the distance baggage will have to travel. Luggage has to travel eight miles under ground in tunnels from the current terminal, but the new terminal will have baggage conveyor belts on the lower level of the building, which will speed up the time it will take for bags to make it back to passengers.

Small sparkling ceiling lights mimic a starscape that subconsciously guides passengers to their gates and in the flow of foot traffic. The wood panel ceiling boasts expanded views with natural light and steel beams manufactured in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, resemble trees to pay homage to the nature found in and around the Pittsburgh area.

The number of TSA security check points will expand to 12 stations with updated technology used in other airports to limit how many items passengers will have to remove from their bags and luggage.

It almost doubles the screening capacity currently available in the landside terminal that opened in 1992, the pre 9/11 era.

"We only have seven lanes downstairs and then five lanes upstairs and they're using older equipment where you need to remove those liquids from your bag, where you need to remove the laptops and the iPads," Hoback explained.

Construction is underway on an expanded food court and retail venues. The changes are detailed down to making the terminal more tech friendly with more places for passengers to plug in.

It's post-pandemic design includes outdoor patios with green space for passengers who pass through security and terraces that will be open to the public for events before security checks.

No state or local taxpayer dollars supported the project. Instead, the funding is sourced through a combination of municipal bonds, some federal grant money and a small amount of federal infrastructure funds.

"We also utilized passenger facility charges as well as customer facility charges," he said. "Our airline partners back those bonds and they've voted unanimously every time that we've sent another bond sale to them, they've been extremely supportive over the last several years of this project.

The opening date is projected for around October of 2025 pending permits, construction and any federal airport approval measures.

It's estimated the project has created 14,300 jobs, with $2.5 billion in economic activity.