Dulles International Airport has a main terminal (the “Main Terminal”) and four midfield concourses (Concourses A, B, C and D) that may be reached via an underground automated people mover (“AeroTrain”) system or mobile lounges that transport passengers to and from the Main Terminal. The Main Terminal is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. There are four runways at Dulles International Airport: 1C/19C – 11,500 feet; 1R/19L – 11,500 feet; 12/30 – 10,500 feet; and 1L/19R – 9,400 feet. The runways and associated taxiways are capable of handling aircraft up to Group VI, such as an A-380 aircraft and B747-8 aircraft.
The Main Terminal at Dulles International Airport has a total of approximately 1.3 million square feet of floor space, six aircraft gates (of which four are loading bridge equipped) referred to as the Z Gates, and the International Arrivals Building with a total floor space of nearly 268,000 square feet that provides customs, agriculture and immigration service facilities and can serve up to 2,400 passengers an hour. Concourses A and B are connected and together provide approximately 1.1 million square feet of floor space and accommodate hard-stand parking positions for 31 regional airline aircraft and 31 loading bridge equipped gates for international and domestic airlines. Concourse B gates are equipped with 41 loading bridges to accommodate large wide-body aircraft used primarily by international carriers.
Concourses C and D were constructed as separate buildings, but as passenger demand increased, more gates were constructed at both concourses, and the two concourses eventually were joined. They now have a combined total of approximately 923,000 square feet of floor space and 58 aircraft parking positions with 50 loading bridge-equipped aircraft gates operated by United Airlines.
Dulles International Airport has two gates that support the boarding and unloading of passengers from the upper and lower decks of the A-380 aircraft. The current runway/taxiway system operates under several FAA-approved modification of standards for Group VI aircraft. Group VI aircraft have specific operational requirements and routes that are approved by the FAA. As pavement along these routes is rehabilitated, it is required to be brought up to Group VI standards.
Dulles International Airport currently includes 10 airline lounges, four of which are operated by United Airlines, including a Polaris lounge. Additional lounges are operated by Air France, British Airways, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways. In addition, a Capital One lounge is located at the base of the historic air traffic control tower.
The Washington Dulles International Airport Metrorail Station connects Dulles International Airport to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area via the region’s Metrorail public transit system and is directly opposite the Main Terminal. An indoor pedestrian tunnel with moving sidewalks connects the Metrorail station to the Main Terminal’s ticketing and baggage claim levels. Ground transportation to Dulles International Airport is provided via taxi, transportation network companies (TNCs), which include Uber and Lyft, and shared vehicle and van services provided by concessionaires and limousines.
There are approximately 18,400 revenue-producing public parking spaces at Dulles International Airport. In addition, there are approximately 12,200 employee parking spaces.
There are six cargo buildings at Dulles International Airport, with a total of approximately 551,000 square feet of cargo space.
United Airlines maintains an aircraft maintenance hangar of sufficient size to accommodate two B-767 aircraft or a single B-787 or A-350 aircraft on land it leases from the Airports Authority.
The Smithsonian Institution operates the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on airport land. The Airports Authority has title to, and is required to maintain, two roadways that were built by the Smithsonian and must allow Udvar-Hazy Center patrons and invitees ingress to and egress from the facility.
Passenger Counts
The airport’s most recent passenger counts, including breakdown of domestic versus international can be found here: Dulles Airport Overview
Passenger Conveyances
The AeroTrain underground people mover system uses fully automated three-car trains that move passengers between the Main Terminal and Concourses A, B and C. Each train car has a design capacity of 72 passengers without accounting for luggage. Although there is no station at Concourse D, passengers can walk there through Concourse C or ride a mobile lounge shuttle.
The airport has 49 mobile lounges and plane mates, which supplement the AeroTrain system by providing direct climate-controlled shuttles that are driven across the airfield. Routes can be customized to meet changes in demand or as a back-up during an AeroTrain outage. They have a passenger capacity of 100 without accounting for luggage. Each vehicle has doorways that connect directly to planes or buildings, so passengers never have to go up, down or outside to board or disembark. Additional trips are provided as needed for remotely parked aircraft, special trips and secure VIP transportation.
- Mobile lounges (19 in the fleet) average 630 trips per day and are used for shuttle service between concourses. Standard routes include Main Terminal to Concourse D and Concourse A to Concourse D. During an AeroTrain outage, routes are added from Main Terminal to Concourse C, as well as Concourse A to Concourse C.
- Similar vehicles called plane mates (30 in the fleet) average 150 trips per day and can be raised and lowered to link with aircraft or buildings. They are primarily used as dedicated transportation to U.S. Customs processing in the airport’s International Arrivals Building, which processed 3,812,781 passengers in 2024.
Federal Requirements Regulating Passenger Flow
- Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, arriving international passengers at Dulles International Airport are required to be separated from domestic passengers until undergoing processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enter the United States. Passengers with destinations terminating at Dulles are processed at the International Arrivals Building, which is accessed via a sterile corridor through the use of mobile lounges and plane mates.
- A sterile corridor at an airport is a secure pathway for passengers, post-security screening, leading from the security checkpoints to the gates, or for international arrivals, a dedicated controlled route to customs/immigration, keeping cleared passengers separate from the public and preventing contraband entry. It ensures people boarding planes or connecting flights remain "sterile" (with no access to anyone outside the secured area) and are managed in a highly secure zone, which is crucial for flight safety and immigration control.
- Exit lanes from the secure area must meet these TSA access control requirements.
Non-aeronautical Development
Information on landside (airport land outside the airfield security perimeter) parcels available for development can be found below:
- Aeronautical and non-aeronautical land development opportunities are identified in the Master Plan Workshops 1, 2 and 3 exhibit boards can be viewed here. The alternative concourse layout concepts can be seen on page 15 of this deck from Workshop 2.
Airport Master Plan
A significant update to Dulles International Airport’s Master Plan, which provides a long-term framework for the airport’s development, was adopted by in July 2025 by the Airports Authority’s board of directors. The document provides a comprehensive vision for development opportunities spanning the next several decades and is designed to keep Dulles in a strong position to accommodate the National Capital Region’s growing transportation needs.
Many concepts in the previous plan document, adopted in 1985, have already been realized. The newer revision considers the accelerating growth of passengers using Dulles in recent years, fueled by Silver Line Metrorail service as well as more airlines with increasing nonstop service to destinations around the world. The airport’s annual passenger activity is expected to grow more than 30 percent by 2030, when compared with 2024 figures.
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