New Orlando terminal is $2.8 billion bet on Florida tourism
Visitors to the new terminal at Orlando International Airport may want to wear sunscreen
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Visitors to the new terminal at Orlando International Airport may want to wear sunscreen, shades and a floppy hat.
Sun rays beaming through the windows of its soaring ceilings don't just peck at the passing passengers — they practically smooch them as if they were spending a day at the beach.
Accompanied by realistic-looking fake indoor palm trees, gigantic LED screens depicting underwater springs and skylight views of blue skies and billowing clouds, Terminal C lets passengers know they have arrived in Florida. And that's the point, as the world's seventh-busiest airport makes a $2.8 billion bet when the 1.8 million-square-foot (167,225-square-meter) terminal opens to the public this week that Florida's tourism is moving well beyond the pandemic slowdown and has a bright future.
“They get to see the sunshine so they really know they are in the Sunshine State," Kevin Thibault, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, said of passengers arriving in the terminal. “It really is a facility for generations to come."
