Hollywood Burbank Airport Unveils Nearly $1.3 Billion Terminal Ahead of Oct. 13 Opening

Officials on Monday celebrated the completion of Hollywood Burbank Airport’s nearly $1.3 billion replacement passenger terminal, eight days before the 14-gate facility is scheduled to open to travelers.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in the new terminal’s ticketing hall, beneath its soaring wood-paneled ceiling, with regional, state and local officials in attendance. Among them was Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, who pointed out that the airport is partly Pasadena’s.

“First and foremost, the people of Pasadena should be reminded that the city of Pasadena, the residents of Pasadena, are one-third owners of this beautiful airport,” Gordo said. “It’s very accessible, safe and easy to get to.”

For Pasadena travelers, Hollywood Burbank Airport has long been the smaller, easier alternative to the sprawling complexity of LAX.

The airport is owned and operated by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, a joint powers agency created by the three cities in 1977. Each city appoints three members to the nine-member commission. Pasadena City Councilmember Tyron Hampton serves as the authority’s president.

The 355,000-square-foot terminal is scheduled to open to passengers Oct. 13, replacing the airport’s existing terminal complex, whose original facilities opened in 1930. The new terminal is larger than the existing 232,000-square-foot complex but will retain the same 14 gates. Airport officials have described the project as a replacement rather than a capacity expansion. The larger building gives the same 14 gates considerably more room.

Inside, little feels old. Sunlight pours through enormous walls of glass, pale wood ceilings stretch across broad public spaces, and the Verdugo Mountains are framed beyond the security checkpoints.

State Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin noted the safety benefits of locating the new terminal on the opposite side of the airfield and farther from the runways. The building also meets current seismic and accessibility standards and is one of only two all-electric airport facilities in the country, officials said.

Omishakin also credited the designers with preserving something less tangible.

“You can see just exactly that, that they didn’t want to lose that sort of nostalgic feeling from the other terminal,” Omishakin said, referring to the airport’s design.

Its architecture deliberately looks backward as well as forward. The sweeping entrance canopy and angled columns evoke Hollywood searchlights, while the interior borrows from Art Deco and midcentury design. The terminal is pursuing LEED Gold certification, with solar panels, high-performance glazing, LED lighting, daylight controls and demand-controlled ventilation designed to reduce energy use.

Burbank Mayor Tamala Takahashi said the community was involved in developing the terminal’s design.

“This beautiful new facility takes everything you love about the experience, and brings it into the new era with modern amenities, greater accessibility, enhanced safety, and a welcoming design, all while maintaining the 14-gate airport our community knows,” Takahashi said.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who said he secured more than $8 million in federal funding for the project, called the terminal a boost for the region’s transportation system and economy.

“This project is a testament to how we can work together to transform our local infrastructure, create more jobs, strengthen our transportation system, and boost our local economies,” Schiff said. “Over 6 million people travel in and out of this airport every year, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact that this project will leave on communities and for travelers, and a local economic boost that we will see as a result of this reopening and for decades to come.”

“This airport has been a part of all of our families for a long time,” Gordo said. “And now it’s completely renovated and beautiful. You’ll love the space.”

Planning for a replacement dates to the 1980s, after the Federal Aviation Administration determined the existing terminal was too close to the runway to provide an adequate aircraft safety margin. Airport officials have said the replacement addresses those longstanding safety concerns. The new terminal meets modern FAA standards.

Plans stalled for decades amid neighborhood opposition. Burbank voters ultimately approved Measure B in November 2016 with 70% of the vote, clearing a major hurdle for the replacement terminal. Ground was broken in January 2024, less than three years before the terminal’s opening.

During the final of three operational tests last month, 1,500 volunteers tested parking, ticketing, baggage handling, Transportation Security Administration screening and gate operations at the new terminal. Airport staff, airline employees and TSA personnel also participated in the Sept. 19 trial. Airport officials said 98% of feedback was positive, while signage and wayfinding were identified as areas for improvement.

The new terminal will feature expanded TSA screening areas, additional charging ports and kiosks, and a baggage claim area with three carousels in a single indoor hall.

The airport will retain its practice of boarding and deplaning passengers outdoors rather than using covered jet bridges, preserving one of its most distinctive features.

The project also includes a new seven-level parking structure across from the terminal entrance, with about 2,000 spaces, along with a separate 16,000-square-foot building for airline support operations and new roadways and airfield improvements. Rideshare passengers will use a new pickup lot near the terminal, while rental-car customers will take shuttles to the existing consolidated rental-car facility across Hollywood Way.

When the terminal opens Oct. 13, the airport’s main entrance will move to Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way from its current entrance off Thornton Avenue. Valet service will also move to the new terminal, and Lot E will close permanently.

The Burbank Airport-North Metrolink station will be connected to the new terminal by a pedestrian path and on-demand shuttle.

According to the authority, no state, county or local funds from Burbank, Glendale or Pasadena were used for the project. Funding sources include airport revenue bonds, federal grants, passenger facility charges and authority funds.

Outside the new glass-and-steel terminal Monday, a gleaming vintage aircraft sat beneath the California sun, an old Hollywood touch at an airport stepping into its next era.