It almost seems to good to be true. A spacious arrivals and departures hall with floor to ceiling windows, part of a building that is 850,000 square feet in all.

Welcome to Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport. 

"The region needs good news, this is a huge piece of good news, says Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Terminal B is the first to be completed as part of the $8 billion dollar redo of the much maligned Airport in Queens. The project began in June of 2016.

Highlights include the check-in area with four check-in islands and 75 individual kiosks. A sky bridge takes passengers to their gates where American, United, Southwest and Air Canada will fly in and out of.

Passenger volume is down 95 percent at LaGuardia because of coronavirus fears., but Cotton says this project is about the future.

"People will fly again. There will be a vaccine. Travel will come back. Travel means an enormous amount to people. It's something to look forward to", said Cotton.

For those who do travel now, there is hand sanitizer and wipes for touch screens everywhere, plus social distancing reminders on the floor and on message boards.

Construction continued over the past three months. In some cases, the lack of traffic was an advantage.

"We have been able to seize that opportunity and expand and excelerate the construction in certain areas without having a negative impact on the customers," said Tony Vero, interim general manager at the airport.

One thing is for sure: when passengers arrive here at Terminal B, they will know they are in New York, and New Yorkers will know they are home. That includes a giant mosaic by artist Laura Owens with a five boroughs theme, and some iconic names in the city food game for passengers to enjoy like Junior's Cheesecake, Zaro's and Dos Toros.

Travel expert Brian Kelly, The Points Guy, says this is upbeat news despite the timing.

"This is definitely a step in the right direction," said Kelly, who added it's not going to fix all of the problems at LaGuardia, but it's a great starting point.