Dulles Airport Board Approves $15.5 Billion for Trump's Renovation Plan, Pushing Boarding Fees Toward $65 a Passenger

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board voted Wednesday to add $15.5 billion in spending authority for a Dulles International Airport overhaul that President Trump proposed in July, bringing the total authorized program to $19.9 billion including $4.4 billion previously approved. The plan preserves the main terminal, replaces the airport's mobile lounges with underground tunnels and an automated transit system, and adds roughly 5 million square feet of new or renovated space. About $14.2 billion is to come from new bond issuances, $200 million from grants and $1.1 billion from passenger facility charges. The board excluded Trump's proposals for a 32,000-space parking garage, a hotel and a new transportation center.

The airports authority is an independent interstate body, not a federal agency, and the vote commits decades of bond debt and rising passenger fees to a project the president publicly championed.

Main terminal reconstruction is set to begin in late 2027 and tunnel work in early 2029, with completion targeted for 2034. The per-passenger boarding fee charged to airlines is projected to rise from $13 to between $60 and $65 by 2038. Trump said in July the total cost would exceed $20 billion.