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at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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Passengers wait for their flights inside the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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A passenger walks through the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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A chandelier hangs behind interactive kiosks at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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An automated storage and retrieval baggage handling system uses plastic trays with radio-frequency tags to track and store passengers' bags at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. The system will allow travelers to check in bags up to 24 hours in advance of their flight. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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An automated storage and retrieval baggage handling system uses plastic trays with radio-frequency tags to track and store passengers' bags at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. The system will allow travelers to check in bags up to 24 hours in advance of their flight. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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An automated storage and retrieval baggage handling system uses plastic trays with radio-frequency tags to track and store passengers' bags at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. The system will allow travelers to check in bags up to 24 hours in advance of their flight. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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Passengers arrive at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

New $1.7B Los Angeles International Airport concourse opens

By Associated Press East Los Angeles

PUBLISHED 4:13 PM ET May. 24, 2021

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A massive new $1.73 billion concourse with 15 gates opened Monday at Los Angeles International Airport.

Known as West Gates, it will serve both international and domestic flights.

“This is a big day in a big city that’s building out a big new infrastructure,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said during an opening ceremony.

The 4½-year construction project was part of a $14.5 billion airport modernization project.

Located just west of the Tom Bradley International Terminal, the five-level, 750,000-square-foot (69,677-square-meter) West Gates concourse is 1,700 feet (518 meters) long.

Officials said it is based around a digitally based travel experience, including biometric boarding gates, thousands of places to plug in and access wireless internet — with 5G later this year — and touchscreen kiosks.

There are two nursing rooms, three play areas for children and a relief area for service animals.

The airport described the West Gates' baggage handling and boarding system as the most advanced in the U.S.

The airport improvement project involves all of the airport's passenger terminals. New facilities include an automated people mover train, a consolidated rental car facility and a parking structure for 4,300 vehicles.

And a new metro station will at long last connect the airport to Los Angeles County's light rail system.

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