Metro Orlando Airport News

[Camillo Sitte]

The images recently posted are the "less water" scheme I mentioned earlier.

One of the GOAA consultants feared [perhaps rightly so] that with too much water surrounding the new complex there would be a serious bird problem [birds and 60-90,000 lb thrust turbo-fans don't mix well].

Also, the first built phase of the South Terminal Complex is still slated to be a 24-gate domestic airline terminal.

You have to understand that by giving "signatory

[bic]

You should contribute to this forum more often, Camillo.

[orlandonative]

You should contribute to this forum more often, Camillo.

I'll second that.

Someone with more information please feel free to correct me , but I believe that these pictures only represent half of the full South Terminal.

[Camillo Sitte]

I'll second that.

Someone with more information please feel free to correct me , but I believe that these pictures only represent half of the full South Terminal.

Actually they only really show 1/4 of the total proposed South Terminal Complex.

The first three images are of the first phase which as I said earlier is still/was still [?] slated to be a 24-gate domestic terminal. I think you can actually count the 24 jet bridges in those images [though I do seem to recall that the gates closest to the landside were envisioned as being able to handle international traffic as well.

It's still the same basic design diagram as shown in the "organic" scheme I posted but with out the large lakes and with all transportation running straight-down the middle; if you look closely and compare the two you can see the similarities.

Not to sound like a broken record but the whole design is really F'd up from a basic design/needs perspective. This whole thing came about during a time when MCO had international ops going in and out of three separate terminals - American was operating their Brazil flights and Copa and MartinAir were oping their Costa Rica and Panama flights out of T1, Air Canada and Aero Mexico/Mexicana were doing ops out of T3 and Delta, British, Virgin, etc. out of T4 - just a complete mess.

Truth is that unless something has happed very recently and has been kept quite, there really is no plan on the near horizon for a dedicated international terminal - which seems a big mistake to me.

I have said it before but anyone who has cleared customs in Orlando and had to claim and then reclaim your bags, go upstairs, down stairs, then upstairs again - knows that MCO completely blows as an international airport.

[sunshine]

I never take any direct international flight to Orlando before, I either clear the custom in LA or NYC. Then, direct flight from NYC or LA to Orlando.

Talking about bad airpot, I was at Newark airport to transfer flight to DC from Orlando. I have to go thru security check to go from one terminal to another terminal for domestic transfer. It was so slow and I have to run to my transfer flight gate after the security check(which always have to be at the very last gate at the end). I was late for 10 mins and luckily the plane was delayed.

[JRS1]

kudos to Camillo and i_cre. you are both da bomb;

which is the intermodal center exactly? is the half-moon structure another landside terminal? is the intermodal center the rectangular complex between the half-moon and the U shaped airside?

Edited May 3, 2007 by JRS1

[JRS1]

These are all courtesy of OIA and CFRail.

so, CFRAIL does have designs of running the train thru there.

[Migman]

so, CFRAIL does have designs of running the train thru there.

Maybe an LRT line eventually. One could only hope...

[shardoon]

i came across this in the ssc forums. it looks interesting even though the sat pic is a little old.

[bic]

Inbound at Sanford airport

Grand plans on growth ready for landing as Sanford tries to attract more passengers

Link to Orlando Sentinel Article

[bic]

i came across this in the ssc forums. it looks interesting even though the sat pic is a little old.

This design is fairly old also. This exact graphic was used in a December 2005 document summarizing the OIA intermodal stations. If you want to read a TON of information about this intermodal station design iteration as well as look at a bunch of renderings, elevations, and site plans, click here.

[JRS1]

This design is fairly old also. This exact graphic was used in a December 2005 document summarizing the OIA intermodal stations. If you want to read a TON of information about this intermodal station design iteration as well as look at a bunch of renderings, elevations, and site plans, click here.

so, is the december 2005 design plan what is being built now?

[orlandonative]

From my meeting today with the fine folks at GOAA: "there is no intentions of building anything resembling a south terminal for at least the next 10-15 years, easily." The intermodal station is inching closer to some sort of incubation period, however there is also no intention of putting anything greater than a shell and core building on the other end of the line (south). The station was described as very little more than a clear point of termination for the lines.

[bic]

Well, that's disheartening. But understandable considering that Airside 2 hasn't even been built out yet.

[JRS1]

From my meeting today with the fine folks at GOAA: "there is no intentions of building anything resembling a south terminal for at least the next 10-15 years, easily." The intermodal station is inching closer to some sort of incubation period, however there is also no intention of putting anything greater than a shell and core building on the other end of the line (south). The station was described as very little more than a clear point of termination for the lines.

so, what is it that they're building now, the North Intermodal Building and the South Intermodal Building shell? They said they were moving forward with plans ($200M+) a few weeks back.

I figure the Intermodal center would make sense now only if there was a rail line functioning that they could link it to. If they do Phase I of CFRAIL in 2009, it will be to Church St. Phase II in 2013 past Taft could provide a link line to OIA; that's when I think it would make sense for them to build the intermodal center; they could link OIA to downtown and/or to the Sand Lake Road/Orange Ave. station which could link to I-Drive via buses, etc... (well, that would be the purpose of the intermodal center...).

you gotta have a train to make it work, and a train won't and/or can't come any earlier than 2013, that is IF they decide to link CFRAIL to it, unless there is some other rail plan to connect it to I-Drive or whatever. God knows HSR isn't going to happen any time soon.

CFRAIL is our best bet to have a train for years to come. I don't think you can have a locomotive rumbling into the Intermodal Center. I think they would have to build a LRT line from the Intermodal center to the Taft CFRAIL station and link them there. that could work, and that LRT could be the first segment to one eventually going to I-Drive...

[gibby]

GOAA's own growth projections show passenger counts of nearly 60 million in 2022. Either their projections are way off or their strategy for handling that many passengers is way off.

[bic]

Not only that but I believe GOAA stated that the 40 million passenger milestone would trigger south terminal construction. By GOAA's projections, that milestone should be reached in about 5 years.

[JRS1]

correction. they could have a locomotive at the intermodal center. De Gaulle in Paris has commuter rail trains connecting at the terminal... I've been on them.

[bic]

Most major airports in Europe have direct commuter rail connections.

[gibby]

I have always wondered how much impact the local ground transport lobby in US cities with large airports has. Rail service from major airports to city centers just seems like such a no-brainer yet most US airports do not have it. Atlanta and Chicago are the only major airports with excellent rail service that I can think of.

[bulldogger]

I have always wondered how much impact the local ground transport lobby in US cities with large airports has. Rail service from major airports to city centers just seems like such a no-brainer yet most US airports do not have it. Atlanta and Chicago are the only major airports with excellent rail service that I can think of.

JFK

[gibby]

JFK

The Airtrain for JFK was literally built just a few years ago at a very high cost. It should have been built many many years ago and still it is not very convenient.

[Camillo Sitte]

I have always wondered how much impact the local ground transport lobby in US cities with large airports has. Rail service from major airports to city centers just seems like such a no-brainer yet most US airports do not have it. Atlanta and Chicago are the only major airports with excellent rail service that I can think of.

???

Uhh...In addition to Atlanta and Chicago - JFK, Newark, Washington National, Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Cleveland, and Miami all have convenient, regularly scheduled rail service between their airports and downtown centers.

[bic]

???

Uhh...In addition to Atlanta and Chicago - JFK, Newark, Washington National, Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Cleveland, and Miami all have convenient, regularly scheduled rail service between their airports and downtown centers.

Correct, although MIA, BOS, and DFW require that you transfer to the station via shuttle bus, further complicating the intermodal transit process. I must have taken the Blue Line to and from the airport dozens of times when I lived in Boston and it was never fun to stand outside in sub-zero (Celsius) temperatures to wait for the shuttle bus to take me to the T station only to wait in the cold again on the outdoor platform for the train to come. As far as MIA's train connection is concerned, I had to admit that I didn't even know one existed before you listed it because I haven't met a single person down here who has taken a train to the airport. Fortunately that is bound to change as the rail network in South Florida expands and the airport intermodal station comes to fruition.

For as many major cities and airports as the U.S. has, it is severely lacking in the direct airport-city center rail connection department.

[gibby]

I did the shuttle in Boston recently and it was certainly not convenient It would only be useful if someone really could not afford a cab. Taking rail from MIA to downtown Miami is not really an option unless you literally have less than $6 in your pocket. The JFK Airtrain was only recently built (at least 40 years late) and I don't find it convenient at all. LGA has nothing and it is closest to the City. I did the Newark train a few months ago and it was OK but still pretty slow. The other cities mentioned might have great rail service but I have no experience with them.