United Airlines Expands In Houston With $2.6 Bln Terminal Project

(RTTNews) - United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL), on Thursday announced that it has growth plans in Houston including a $2.6 billion renovation of Terminal B at George Bush Intercontinental Airport or IAH along with an Early Bag Storage facility.

The investment includes the expansion of 40 gates at IAH to accommodate larger aircrafts.

The airline estimates an increase of around 10 percent in capacity this winter thereby flying to more than double the number of cities from Houston than all other airlines combined.

The new terminal B will include North Concourse with 22 mainline, narrow-body gates with two major concessions hubs of food and retail space among others.

A new United Club which is touted as the largest by the airline company is being planned for the terminal and it will join eight new United Club locations opened in the last two years.

The new Early Bag Storage facility is set to become fully operational in early 2024, and has a capacity of more than 3,300 trays to store baggage for passengers arriving early before departure, on long layovers, or during irregular operations when flights are delayed.

The new system has a 40 bags per-minute throughput enabling United's overall baggage system to handle 80,000 bags per day.

Additionally, United's new Airbus A321neo takes its inaugural flight from Houston on November 30. The new aircraft has features like Panasonic's new NEXT inflight entertainment system, a 3D map with destination guides, new domestic first-class seat, with wireless charging and more privacy and many more.

In pre-market activity, United Airlines shares are trading at $39.63, up 0.97% on the Nasdaq.