The biggest infrastructure project in 40 years at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield is about halfway complete.
Behind the scenes and out of sight from passengers who continue to navigate the elevators to skywalks and temporary crosswalks between the parking garages and the existing split terminal, construction crews are plugging away at the central pavilion that will bring new airline ticket counters to the terminal’s second level and an improved baggage handling system.
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The central pavilion under is still under construction at Eppley
Airfield in Omaha, on Thursday, March 19, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
The pavilion will also centralize the Transportation Security Administration’s passenger screening in one location, rectifying an awkward two-location security system in the existing terminal, which opened in 1986, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The central pavilion is a major component of a $950 million terminal expansion and renovation at a time when Eppley Airfield continues to experience record passenger traffic.
The entire renovation project, which will expand the terminal from 375,000 to 646,000 square feet, is expected to be completed in 2028, but Omaha Airport Authority officials said they will open parts of the project up to passengers as they are completed. That will include the central pavilion, which is expected to be completed next year.
Airport Authority CEO Dave Roth added the 33-foot-high central pavilion will be wide and long enough that it could fit Memorial Stadium’s Tom Osborne Field — sidelines and end zones included.
Roth said the terminal will be redesigned in ways that will ask little of passengers traveling through.
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A plane taxis by an area under construction at Eppley Airfield
in Omaha, on Thursday, March 19, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
“We wanted a very intuitive flow for the customers,” Roth said. “When they’re walking through here, they don’t even need to look at the signage. It just kind of pulls you through the facility.”
Airport Authority Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Steve McCoy said a third skywalk will be built between the parking garage and the terminal. That skywalk will bring passengers right to the security checkpoint.
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Steve McCoy of the Omaha Airport Authority., stands in what will
be the Escape Lounge at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, on Thursday,
March 19, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Additionally, the restaurant options will be revamped. Gone are most of the fast-food chains and grab-and-go convenience options.
Coming are restaurants highlighting the unique cuisine and culture of Omaha and Nebraska. Coming restaurants include Block 16, Fernando’s, Pitch Pizzeria and Runza, among others. Other local attractions, including Hollywood Candy, will also have a presence at the airport.
Roth and McCoy said terminal accessibility will also be greatly expanded. The renovated and expanded terminal will have twice as many escalators as the current terminal and four times as many elevators.
“These are going to be large and prominent,” Roth said.
Additionally, the future terminal will have five mothers’ rooms — far beyond the federally mandated standard of one — and family restrooms with space for passengers to help vulnerable adults change.
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A plane taxis by an area under construction at Eppley Airfield
in Omaha, on Thursday, March 19, 2026.
CHRIS MACHIAN, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Passengers waiting for their flights will be able to do so comfortably at the Escape Lounge so long as they’re willing to pay or have membership access through certain credit cards or other lounges. The two-story, 6,000-square-foot Escape Lounge operated by CAVU will have food and drinks, a full-service bar, Wi-Fi, restrooms, charging ports, newspapers and TVs.
Passengers who enjoy plane spotting will be able to head to the independently operated lounge’s second story to watch planes take off and land with the backdrop of the Loess Hills.
Of course, a major component of the expansion and renovation project is the addition of space that will allow more gates for airplanes. McCoy said the number of gates will initially expand from 20 to 22 gates. Each gate will increase in size from 1,500 square feet to 2,600 square feet.
McCoy and Roth added even more gates will be added over the decades as airport operational needs arise.
Two gates on the north end of the expanded terminal will be dedicated to international flights. Although no international flights have been officially announced, the possibility was added after the Omaha Airport Authority received a $7 million federal grant last fall.
The grant funds the construction and operation of a federal inspection services facility at the airport’s north end. The facility is a critical component of allowing international flights to places such as Mexico and Caribbean islands.
“I think the international component is probably the biggest piece to unlock that we couldn’t previously,” McCoy said.
The halfway milestone for the terminal modernization and expansion came months after the airport added a $65 million canopy that has protected passengers traveling between vehicles and the terminal from being barraged by Nebraska's precipitation.
Omaha mayor says new terminal will be ‘amazing’
The $950 million Eppley terminal expansion and modernization is playing a key role in the city and business leaders’ vision to elevate the city’s profile.
Mayor John Ewing, during a meeting last week with the Omaha World-Herald, called the project “amazing.”
“It will be one of the nicest airports I’ve ever been in when it’s done,” Ewing said. “The great thing about it is it will be top-notch and it will still be small enough to walk. It’ll have the ability to handle significantly more passengers but you don’t have to hop on a tram and go to concourse A or B or any of that, like a lot of these other airports.”
Ewing expects more flights will come to Eppley after the project is completed.
Ewing tied the airport’s renovation and expansion to the $200 million renovation and expansion of the CHI Health Center’s convention space.
The CHI project includes 25 additional meeting rooms and 90,000 square feet of space. The expansion is expected to provide a fresh look to the old convention space in hopes of Omaha attracting bigger conventions and meetings. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of next year.
“We’ll be able to have a lot more big conventions and things of that nature because of the airport and because of (the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority) doing both of these things at the same time,” Ewing said.
