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Originally Posted by downtownpdx
Thanks for sharing these renderings. I like the large glass wall at the east end of the new concourse which will provide great views of Mt. Hood. Maybe that already exists in the current concourse E but not like this from what I remember.
I don't get the "closed" concourse A in the rendering... is that a plan? Not that anyone would miss the cramped building for Alaska/Horizon, but I wonder if they are planning an expansion of that concourse at some point. Or maybe just moving operations to B concourse.
Pavlov's Dog, I haven't flown internationally in many years so I don't know the customs issues, but I don't understand the common use approach. If PDX were all common use, would that mean, for example, that SW would just use some gates on the underutilized D concourse when necessary, sharing them low frequency carriers like Jet Blue or Frontier? I could see that PDX is small enough, and doesn't have lots of connecting passengers so maybe grouping airlines isn't necessary like it would be at LAX. But it seems Alaska should have a designated area since quite a few regional flights probably connect through here. It seems like the map on these renderings already shows quite a few common use gates, and I don't see how the current grouping impedes new airlines -- they've added several in the last few years, can't they easily change gate arrangements anyway?
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I currently live in Oslo our airport has about the same passenger numbers as PDX. At OSL all gates and check in counters are common use. Norwegian and SAS are about the same size at the airport and there are numerous other airlines. In the European (within the Schengen area) section a gate could in theory be used by 10 different airlines in one day.
Here is how one IT system provider describes this set-up which is quite common.
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Common Use Terminal Systems
Rareness spaces in today’s airports is a concern for airports committed to improve their passenger experience, increasing efficiency and reducing passengers waiting time have never been more important. Therefore the need to process more passengers through the same or turn spaces has no longer become an option but a necessity.
With Global Systems CUTE solution, the airports operational team will no longer need dedicated check-in counters but will use the same airport gates, desks and workstations, greatly increasing the volume of traffic that can be accommodated by the infrastructure.
The Shared Platform based on an IP infrastructure can be used by any airline agent allowing access to all the application they need for passengers checking, boarding, transiting with various LDCS DCS and all these on different languages and services
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I believe the A gates are intended for use with propeller aircraft. Horizon has transitioned from the Q400 to small jets which can use jetways so that is one impetus for the change.
The way PDX is now only Alaska can use Alaska gates, only Southwest can use Southwest gates and so on. If say American or some new entrant wanted to start a hub and use more than one gate at once that would be impossible to build any scale.
Arriving internationally doesn't give a good impression. It looks pretty run down and first collecting your luggage and then taking it with you on a bus is a major inconvenience and with more and more old and obese travelers is something of an HSE issue. The international departures area is great though and can in theory be used by any departure.