President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Wednesday unveiled plans and architectural renderings for a sweeping $22.5 billion overhaul of Washington Dulles International Airport.

The project — developed in coordination with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and United Airlines — will add or renovate more than 5 million square feet across the airport, located approximately 25 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Dulles, which opened in 1962 and serves as a major transatlantic gateway for the capital region, has long faced criticism over its aging concourses and reliance on the mobile lounges that date back to the airport's original design.

"This transformation is another step in our ongoing efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful again," Trump said Wednesday from the Oval Office.

According to DOT, the multiyear project is expected to create thousands of jobs, generate billions of dollars in economic activity, and enable Dulles to accommodate hundreds of additional flights.

The plan calls for replacing Concourses C and D, adding new gates, and expanding the airport's AeroTrain service. It also includes upgrades to security screening, baggage handling, parking facilities, and pedestrian walkways.

Travelers would benefit from additional seating and lounge space, including expanded United Club facilities and one of the world's largest United Polaris Lounges. A new central walkway is designed to ease passenger movement between concourses, while a separate pedestrian route would connect travelers to a new U.S. Customs facility.

Officials said the improvements would eventually allow Dulles to phase out its decades-old mobile lounges — commonly referred to as "people movers" — which currently transport passengers across the airport.

"We are going to get rid of the people movers," Duffy said from the Oval Office. "… These are like elevated busses. … And they're slow, and people are angry about them."

DOT said it selected the plan after reviewing more than 30 proposals submitted in response to a December 2025 request for ideas to modernize the airport. Construction will be carried out in phases over several years while Dulles remains fully operational.

The $22.5 billion investment represents a substantial increase from the $7 billion previously allocated for the airport's modernization, according to DOT. The announcement follows a broader wave of major airport overhauls across the United States, including multibillion-dollar reconstruction projects at New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports in recent years.

The project will be funded through municipal bonds, according to Reuters. Duffy said that United Airlines and other participating carriers will also contribute to the cost.

"So it's going to be bonded for $22.5 billion," Duffy said. "United is going to partake in part of the payment. But the airlines who participate in the project are going to pay for it."

Duffy noted that the project still requires "some permitting," but officials hope to begin construction as early as next spring. How quickly that permitting proceeds, and whether the phased construction timeline holds, will determine how soon travelers experience relief from the congestion and layout limitations that have shaped the Dulles passenger experience for decades.

Modernization work at the airport is already underway. According to DOT, the first section of the new Concourse E is expected to open later this year, featuring 14 United gates, direct AeroTrain access, and new passenger lounges.