Upgraded Orlando International Airport Introduces New Arrival Experience

Millions of British tourists are expected to travel to Florida over the next few years, and a multi-billion dollar upgrade in Orlando International airport will completely change the arrival experience.

When airlines begin using Terminal C on 19th September, the airport will be among the first in the US to use a “bags first” policy, in which travellers get their luggage before passing through customs and immigration. Only Seattle and a few smaller airports offer the service at the moment.

A new Federal Inspection Service location will use biometric facial recognition technology to speed up the procedure, handle 2,000 people per hour, and do away with the necessity for individual screening by Customs and Border Patrol personnel at booths. Instead, they will have portable electronics.

Previously, bags would be delivered automatically to the baggage area using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

Terminal C, which will cost $2.75 billion, will feature 15 gates that can hold up to 20 aircraft at once, including two Airbus A380s. British Airways, Aer Lingus, Icelandair, Emirates, and Lufthansa are just a few of the carriers that will use Terminal C.

Due to the fact that Delta, Virgin Atlantic’s partner airline, is based there, the airline will continue to use the current international terminal.
One of the ten busiest airports in the world is Orlando International. The airport’s capacity will eventually rise to 60 million people per year thanks to the new terminal, which will initially serve 12 million travelers annually.

In contrast to the current arrival process, passengers at Terminal C will pass directly through the airside, iconic Palm Court shopping and dining area to the landside portion of the terminal. Currently, after immigration and customs, passengers pick up their bags before taking a shuttle train to the main terminal building.

From there, travelers will pass through the majestic, well-lit Boulevard, which connects to the airport’s train station, where they may catch direct Brightline trains to West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami starting in 2023.

The new terminal, according to Kathleen Sharman, chief financial officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, will allow passengers to retrieve their luggage by the time they reach the baggage claim area, which is a 10-minute walk away, and the biometric inspection procedure will shorten lines for border processing. Arriving passengers would have a very different experience at Terminal C, she continued.