MS02113

Delta also plans to add six more showers to the existing two at the E14 Sky Club when it merges the E14 and E15 clubs in spring 2012. There will be -sixteen total between concourses E and F.

RatherBeOnATrain

Hopefully in a Porsche!

Autolycus

LOL... that'd be nice.

I'm not really keen on the thought of a shuttle bus. I figure it'll be a 5-10 minute wait plus at least 10 minutes to actually get around Loop Rd. to the ground transportation area. That's getting to be a big PITA and starts to kill any benefit a lot people traveling to ATL might otherwise get from the new terminal. I assume at least the off-site parking people will be smart enough to pick up and drop off at the new terminal's front door, so it won't be too much worse for people using them. It sounds like it'll be no more convenient to get to MARTA or the rental car facility than it is now with the rechecking of bags. At least with the recheck and using the automated people mover you don't have to haul your luggage out onto the street, load it in a shuttle, ride the shuttle for 10 minutes, unload luggage, haul back into the terminal . . . Surely there's a better way it could have been set up. I guess costs would have been an issue with anything much more elegant. sigh

atl runner

The reason, as they explained it to us, is that the tarmac space around Concourse F is limited for several reasons, including the Gate Gourmet facility, so turning anything around will require a significant push-back, and would have been unworkable for the 380.

atl runner

You will be able to check in for flights at either the main terminal or at F, unless something changes on that front.

Delta will have six (of the 12) dedicated gates on F, and will be using both E & F for international flights. Surprisingly, they only have two dedicated gates on E. Another interesting tidbit is that the gates will be numbered 1 through 10, 12 and 14 (no eleven or thirteen).

There will be passport control/customs in both E & F, but if Atlanta is your final destination, you will have to clear passport/customs in F. Of course, you would want to anyway, because then you won't have to go through security screening and the dreaded baggage re-check.^^^ You go through passport control, collect your bags, go through customs, then turn right, and exit the airport. Those connecting will turn left and go to re-check desks, and then either take the long walkway or the train to their connecting concourse. The distance from F to T, via the walkway, will be 1.2 miles, or a little under 2 kilometers!

14940674

So the inspection you encounter right before clearing security at T5 is simply a boarding pass check, and not an immigration checkpoint? You learn something every day. Thanks.

mtkeller

Yes, and at T5 it's part of BA's "conformance" (or something like that) scheme that requires you to clear that stage some number of minutes (I think it's 35) before scheduled departure. I don't think the carriers at the other terminals have such a scheme in place, but at T5, BA will offload you if your BP isn't scanned at that pre-security checkpoint at the cut-off time.

ssk1127

So who gets the other 6? There's only 6 international airlines in ATL anyway, and since 3 of those are Skyteam, seems unnecessary to waste a whole gate dedicated just to each of them. And will DL continue to use T for some international flights (departures)?

I always wondered why E seems semi-abandoned at certain times of day, and yet A, B, and C are always a crush of people with planes having to wait for gates to open or ramp to clear for pushback all the time. Curious why they didn't spread more of that domestic capacity out to E in the first place.

atl runner

I don't think the other six on F are dedicated to any other airline--they just aren't to Delta. So the non-dedicated six may have Delta flights at times or other airlines, or a combo thereof.

All international flights will depart out of F or E, unless space is not available, and then T or others might be used.

Using E for domestic makes connections out of T, A, B a little more problematic, and if there are delays in departures from E, it screws up arriving international flights (we've all experienced the frustration of that where you can't get to a gate after a nine hour flight because some goofy RJ is sitting in it).

RatherBeOnATrain

LUV's Airtran announced a couple of new international routes this week:

FauxNews:
Southwest’s Airtran Adds New International Routes
Published November 14, 2011

I would think LUV service between ATL and MEX would do very well. (Suburban Atlanta is home to the Consulado General de Mexico en Atlanta.)

atldlff

The new International terminal and the Concourse F facility have extensive use of glass and features natural lighting throughout which is very much like T2 at RDU. This new design is a great improvement over the rest of the ATL Airport facility. If you are a "plane watcher" you are going to really enjoy the new Terminal and Concourse.

Yes, if you choose to re-check/re-screen from an International Flight on E or F you can do so.

All International Flights will Arrive and Depart out of either Concourse E or F. You will be able to check-in for both International and Domestic flights in either the current Terminal or the new International Terminal.

The ATL Airport will have Customs and Border Protection in BOTH Concourse E & F. As atlrunner explained, if you are an ATLANTA arriving passenger, and you don't want to go through a baggage re-check and TSA Security screening, you will want to clear Customs and Border Protection in Concourse F. For those of us that are Atlanta based passengers, I can hardly wait for this improvement!^

Note the specific signs below directing Atlanta Passengers to the facilities in Concourse F.



I am not sure what the plan for off-airport parking, hotel and other transportation is relative to Concourse F, but I can find out at some point.

Sounds much easier in theory than in reality. There is a MASSIVE multi-million dollar baggage sorting facility under the main terminal that would make that plan very difficult if not impossible. Hmmm... That would be a interesting future post... want to see how you bag is routed in ATL to and from the over 200 gates? A day in the life of a bag in Atlanta, hmmm...

RatherBeOnATrain

I'm sure having extensive "natural lighting" will work great in ATL, even during July and August.... what could possibly go wrong?

PRWeezer

I think there are currently domestic flights that come/go from E. Maybe that's the use of aircraft that have arrived from, or are continuing on to international destinations? Or overflow as you suggest. And as others have said, International flights currently depart from almost all of the other concourses (think RJs that go to Canada or the Bahamas, for example).

This is just a guess, but since the E gates are managed by the city, and thus don't have DL branding or GIDS, maybe it's less desirable for them to use those gates more frequently if they don't have to. 'Managed' may not be the right term here, but in other words they aren't DL-exclusive gates so they don't have DL technology, if that makes sense.

Personally I'm thrilled that we'll be able to leave directly from F in the future. But I think there are still some kinks to work out and hassles that will ensue, such as the shuttles required to MARTA & off-site parking (two things that will impact my own travel).

Thanks OP for the pictures!

N830MH

Yeah, me too! I can't wait!!! Looking so good!! I can't wait go back to ATL again. I haven't gone travel through ATL for a long time. I can't wait to be completely new terminal F.

N830MH

You got it, dudes! I want to see more picture!!! ^^^^ I need them! I want to see it!