An “experiential media environment”: Inside OIA’s high-tech south terminal expansion project

ORLANDO, Fla. — The massive state-of-the-art south terminal currently under construction at Orlando International Airport is now 70 percent complete.

It’ll include new technology so far not seen in any other airport in the country.

Airport CEO Phil Brown says the terminal was designed with the passengers in mind, aimed at making their experience at the airport as smooth and pleasant as possible.

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“Well, we’ve got what we call the experiential media environment,” Brown explains.

Brown says that includes large, curved 8K screens, providing information that highlights places that make Central Florida special.

“Things like Blue Springs, Leu Gardens, obviously you’ve got the theme parks.”

One of the most high-tech additions in the south terminal will be the new baggage and handling system.

Unlike the airport’s other terminals, which require passengers to go downstairs to claim their bags, the south terminal will allow them to stay on one level.

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Luggage won’t have to be transported on carts across airport property to the terminal and can be loaded directly into tubs at the terminal that run on tracks, instead of conveyor belts.

Each tub with a bag will have a tracking tag so it can be located at all times.

Brown says the goal is to get luggage in customers’ hands within five and a half minutes.

“It can address one of the major concerns that we always have here...particularly in bad weather.”

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Brown says they’re also incorporating technology that will require less human interaction.

It’s the largest expansion in airport history. They expect to have most of it completed in another year.

Cox Media Group