Originally Posted by
Lux Flyer
Reduced maintenance required for the area, less environmental/lighting demands since it's not public facing, reduced security patrols, stop passengers wandering and getting lost in an area with no/minimal staff to provide assistance. Can also potentially function as a storage area. Test area for new gate/airport flow layouts. Disaster planning/drills. Plenty of potential reasons, that's just a list of what came to me in 60 seconds or so.
I was curious if there was a known reason. All of those are reasonable. However it just seems like such a small area that none of those would be a major issue. Security is done via cameras/alarms, not like passengers would be going down there so no issue with no staff, doubtful lights can be turned off to just that small section, etc... Just seems like unless they were converting it to something else useful (offices, maintenance area, etc) it cost more to close off than just keep it open.