As of June 2026, the Midfield Satellite Concourse South, an eight gate extension of the West Gates at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, is complete and in full passenger service. The facility welcomed its first commercial flight on September 30, 2025, when a Frontier Airlines service departed Gate 229 bound for Las Vegas, and it opened to the public on October 21, 2025. That closes out a build that began with a June 2023 groundbreaking, and Los Angeles World Airports confirmed the concourse was delivered on time and on budget. The opening lifted pressure on remote hardstand gates and gave narrow body traffic, including Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family aircraft, direct concourse access for the first time.
MSC South Cost and Construction Milestones Confirmed
Reporting around the opening put the concourse cost at roughly $421 million, a figure not stated in the original groundbreaking coverage. The project reached topping out in under seven months, with its structural frame complete in early 2024, before all nine prefabricated segments were relocated to the airfield in October 2024 using the Offsite Construction and Relocation method. Each segment weighed up to 1,000 tonnes and was hauled overnight roughly 1.5 miles from the build yard by specialist modular transporters. Los Angeles World Airports has described the approach as only the third of its kind at a United States airfield.
What the Opening Means for Western US Airport Capacity
The completed concourse strengthens LAX ahead of a dense run of marquee events, and its very first departure pointing at Las Vegas underlines how closely the two markets are linked. In that same vein, the Harry Reid International Airport Terminal 1 redevelopment is pursuing the same fixed footprint logic, adding gates inside a landlocked site rather than acquiring new land. MSC South now serves as a proven reference point for that Nevada program, showing that phased, operations sensitive construction can be delivered at a live hub without grounding daily traffic.
What Comes Next at LAX
With MSC South delivered, Los Angeles World Airports has carried the same offsite method into its next major job. The phased closure of Terminal 5 for a full demolition and rebuild began on October 28, 2025, with the concourse helping absorb displaced flights during the transition. Both efforts sit within LAX’s wider capital program, valued at about $30 billion, aimed at readying the airport for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2027 NFL Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Project Overview
- Project Name: Midfield Satellite Concourse South (MSC South), LAX
- Location: Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Developer/Owner: Los Angeles World Airports
- Total Cost/Value: Approximately $421 million
- Scale/Capacity: Eight narrow body gates and about 150,000 square feet of terminal space extending the West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal
- Construction Start: June 2023 groundbreaking
- Expected Completion: Completed; first flight September 30, 2025, public opening October 21, 2025
- Funding/Financing: Part of LAX’s capital improvement program, valued at about $30 billion
- Current Status: Open and in full passenger service as of June 2026
- Key Milestone: Delivered on time and on budget using the Offsite Construction and Relocation method, only the third such build at a US airfield
Project Team
- Los Angeles World Airports: Owner and Operator
- City of Los Angeles: Parent Authority of Los Angeles World Airports
- Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners: Governing Body
- W.E. O’Neil Construction: General Contractor and Construction Manager
- Woods Bagot: Lead Designer and Architect
- Buro Happold: Engineering Consultant (structural, sustainability, acoustics, lighting)
- Frontier Airlines: First Airline to Operate from the Concourse
Reported 29th June 2023: The Los Angeles Airport Board of Commissioners celebrated the groundbreaking of a multi-billion dollar capital modernization project to expand Los Angeles International Airport. Officials break ground for the Midfield Satellite Concourse South project which is a modular eight gate complex that will connect to the west gates of Tom Bradley International Terminal.
The Midfield Satellite Concourse South project will add approximately 150,000 square meters and eight narrow body aircraft gates. The project will use what officials call an “off site build and relocation” technique, which officials say is the first of its kind.
The Midfield Satellite Concourse South project will be built in nine segments approximately 1.5 km from the project site, then delivered and carefully assembled on site.
Midfield Satellite Concourse South project will be a two-deck, eight-door, prefabricated facility capable of handling narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 families. The prefabricated structural system allows for greater flexibility and rapid construction without any significant impact on airport operations. The facility will replace the eight-gate regional jet terminal east of Terminal 8.
“Original in both construction and overall design, MSC South celebrates our transformation while paying homage to our airport’s architectural heritage,” saidJustin Erbacci, CEO of Los Angeles World Airports, in a statement.
According to officials, Project Will pay homage to the city of Los Angeles, with design elements inspired by prominent modernist homes.
The external brise-soleil system used in the project, which is part of the sun protection, will frame the view of the surrounding landscape and allow passive cooling and energy saving. Officials said the interior of the MSC South would look more like “a domestic space than a traditional airport concourse.”
“Midfield Satellite Concourse South project is amazing for what we envisioned together, getting the job done faster without sacrificing precision or focus by building a space off-site and then carefully fitting the segments into place,” said John Finn, President of WE O’Neil Construction made a statement.
Officials said full-scale completion of the project is scheduled for 2025.
Also read Top airports that will benefit from the recent 1bn USA airport Infrastructure grant
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