Long Run Capacity Plan for MIA

¶ … Capacity

In 2014, Miami International Airport processed 399,048 flight operations, breaking down as 209,601 domestic and 189,447 international. A total of 40.9 million passengers went through the airport, for a daily average of 116,802. It serves 150 destinations non-stop and a further 8 destinations on a one-stop basis. The airport also moves 2.17 million tons of freight in a year and has hubs for both FedEx and UPS, among other freight carriers.

The recent additions appear to have eased the pressures that this high amount of demand brought to the airport. The airport was at 3.5 million square feet prior to the recent expansions, but now has 7.5 million square feet. Because of these expansions, the company has added service in 2015 to five U.S. destinations and another 3 international destinations. Growth, which had more or less stagnated in the 33 to 35 million mark, has been able to grow with the new expansions. The North Terminal opened with a cruise ship bus terminal to handle that market specifically; the county's light rail system is now linked to MIA, and between the three terminals there is capacity to handle 7400 international visitors per hour through customs and inspection (MIA, 2015). The current load -- 20 million international visitors -- equates to around 2300 arrivals per hour. Given that said arrivals do not arrive in an even distribution, the airport needs to have capacity well above the 2300 level, but triple that level indicates that MIA can handle some further expansion of business.

Future Expansion Needs

If the airport has capacity to handle its international visitor load, the question still remains if it can handle domestic visitors and cargo. The old terminal is slated to be replaced, and that could affect capacity for domestic passengers. The airport is presently using capacity at the two new terminals to transition away from the original terminal. As a result, the original terminal expansion will give MIA the capacity that it needs to grow well into the 21st century. The airport also added during this period a new runway, new taxiways, midfield apron improvements, NAV/AIDS and additional capacity for things like water and air conditioning. Seventeen new cargo buildings for a total of 2.7 million square feet were also added during the recent rounds of expansion.

All told, current capacity at MIA is for around 70 million passengers per year, much more than the 40 million passengers per year that it currently receives (ENO, 2013). Landside capacity is only 50 million, which gives the airport room to grow, but it also highlights the need for renovation of the old terminal, to more closely align landside capacity with the runway capacity. The airport's own plan projects that demand could reach 68 million passengers by 2035, so the terminal expansion would not be completed before the passenger demand tops 50 million.

Such new capacity has allowed MIA to keep up with demand, but it is entirely possible that especially on the cargo side demand will continue to rise, and that the airport might have trouble keeping up with demand. Miami appears to be capable of meeting future demand, based on its current demand level, the fact that its recent expansions have given it excess capacity and that there is the expectation that demand can grow into this size. By the time the airport is at capacity, the old terminal will likely have been replaced. The county has a plan in place for this airport to grow to meet demand.