You might not think much of airports until you realize that Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) is bigger than the Vatican and Monaco. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is wider than the island of Manhattan, while Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is so massive that it has its own postal code. Airports are huge because planes are generally large and carry a significant number of passengers at once.

Worldwide, there are some truly monumental airport expansion projects underway. Some of these are to renovate or replace existing terminals, while others are meant to usher in a new era of travel for a particular country. More still are aiming to address capacity issues either at the airfield itself or to replace a congested airport. What nearly all of these projects have in common is that they’re big in scale and correspondingly expensive. These are the five most expensive airport expansion projects currently underway in 2026.

5

John F. Kennedy International Airport

$19 billion in total

Credit: Port Authority Of New York & New Jersey

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has been investing heavily in its airports. First was LaGuardia Airport (LGA), which received new Terminals B and C, while Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) received a new Terminal A. However, the busiest New York-area airport is JFK, essentially the international gateway to the US’s largest city, and some of its facilities are aging. As such, the Port Authority has invested $19 billion in multiple projects to improve JFK Airport.

The two biggest projects are the new Terminal One and Terminal Six. The new Terminal One project is estimated to cost $9.5 billion and is slated to open later in 2026 with 14 gates, while the full terminal will be completed by 2030 with 23 gates. Meanwhile, the new Terminal Six is slated to partially open later in 2026, with the full terminal to be completed by 2028, featuring 11 gates and costing $4.2 billion. The new Terminal One replaces the old 1998 building, while the new Terminal Six will replace Terminal Seven.

These aren’t the only improvements that have come to JFK. Part of the $19 billion was allocated to improvements to Terminals Four and Eight, which have now been completed, while the airport’s taxiway layout is also being revised for greater efficiency. The project is centralizing ground transportation services, while the terminal layout will also be simplified once the new buildings are completed and their predecessors are fully demolished. As a whole, JFK Airport will soon be significantly modernized and more efficient.

4

Los Angeles International Airport

$30 billion in total

Credit: Shutterstock

Nearly a decade ago, a $30 billion renovation plan was adopted that aims to thoroughly overhaul the passenger experience in time for the 2028 Olympics in LA. There are several angles at which this is being done, and new terminals have not been the only area of focus. Instead, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is also focusing on other, less obvious projects that are quite expensive, but also extremely impactful, and it has made steady progress on some of the biggest components of the refresh.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is testing a new $3 billion people mover called the ‘SkyLink’, which will feature three stops inside the central terminal area along with three stops outside the airport, and it’s currently set to open later in 2026. The airport’s connecting roadways and curbside have been redesigned to reduce congestion, with the improvements costing over $500 million. LAX’s 15-pylon light ring at the airport entrance has been temporarily removed to make way for updated roads, and LAWA has already opened the LAX/Metro Transit Center.

LAWA has fully updated most of the airport’s existing terminals, and has also built a new eight-gate concourse south of the older midfield satellite concourse (MSC). Curiously, the new concourse wasn’t actually constructed where it currently sits; rather, the entire facility was designed as modules and constructed off-site. The sections were then transported to the current site of MSC South. In addition, LAWA is working to update terminals Four and Five and is considering adding up to two new terminals in the more distant future.

3

Riyadh King Salman International Airport

$30 billion in total

Credit: Foster + Partners

Riyadh is currently served by King Khalid International Airport (RUH), and with five commercial terminals, it’s hardly a small airport. It also handles over 42 million passengers annually, making it one of the busiest airports in the Middle East. However, while the airport is big and the terminals are visually impressive, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims to build Riyadh as a truly global hub that could see close to 200 million passengers per year, which is why it’s spending $30 billion to transform RUH into King Salman International Airport.

King Salman International Airport will be built around the existing King Khalid International Airport and will fully absorb it, essentially fully succeeding RUH. While the airport is still years away from opening, we know that the airport is planned to feature six passenger terminals as well as six runways, whereas the current King Khalid International Airport has just two, and it’s planned for King Salman International Airport to have an annual capacity of 120 million passengers in 2030. By 2050, capacity should be boosted to 185 million passengers annually.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is aiming to diversify its economy and boost tourism, similar to Dubai. Riyadh is a central part of this strategy, with KSA aiming to transform it into a desirable destination in its own right as well as a major connecting hub. It recently launched Riyadh Air, a new flag carrier that will eventually compete against Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways by offering worldwide flights, an elevated product, and an efficient hub.

2

Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport

$31 billion in total

Credit: Shutterstock

While the KSA is investing heavily in Riyadh to transform it into a major regional hub on the scale of Dubai or Doha, it’s investing even more at Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED). First announced in 2023, the Kingdom is spending $31 billion in total to expand the airfield by building a new terminal, expanding the existing terminal, adding a fourth runway, and developing a new logistics area. The project is planned to be completed by 2031, and the KSA is making steady progress.

Ground broke on the fourth runway in 2025, with completion targeted for 2029, while work is currently ongoing on the expansion for Terminal 1. 2026 saw the launch of construction for the new Terminal Two, while the new logistics area is expected to be complete by 2029. By 2031, the expansion should enable JED to accommodate up to 114 million passengers per year. Notably, this is higher than the current titleholder for the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which handles roughly 106 million passengers per year.

JED currently sees only about 53 million passengers per year, but KSA is highly focused on boosting tourism and diversifying its economy beyond oil. With almost unlimited money, it’s investing heavily in infrastructure projects designed to capture headlines and draw visitors away from Dubai or Doha, even beyond aviation. While it remains to be seen how successful the KSA will be in attracting so many visitors, it’s clear that it’s focused on grabbing attention and planning for future growth.

1

Dubai International Airport

$35 billion in total

Credit: Dubai Airports

Dubai International Airport (DXB) is the world’s busiest airport by international traffic, the world’s second-busiest airport overall, the world’s busiest airport for Airbus A380 movements, and the world’s busiest airport for Boeing 777 movements. The problem, however, is that DXB is severely constrained, with only two runways and no room to expand. Dubai does have a solution in the form of DWC (also commonly called Dubai World Central), which is already operational, but it hasn’t yet reached its intended iteration.

As it is today, DWC is not heavily used by passenger airlines and only has two runways, but the $35 billion plan approved in 2024 calls for DWC to operate with five parallel runways. There will be 400 passenger gates, more than double the number at ATL, and DWC is being designed to accommodate up to 260 million passengers per year, while also being five times larger than DXB.

It’s currently planned for DWC to begin receiving high volumes of flights in 2032 with a capacity of 150 million passengers annually, while the full transition to DWC is scheduled for 2035. Emirates and FlyDubai will transfer their entire operations to DWC, while DXB will be closed, and the airport will continue to be improved afterward.