http://www.portseattle.org/news/stories/ =20 Sea-Tac Airport will open its first new terminal facility in 30 years on = June 15. The stunning architecture of the new south end adds nearly a = million square feet of space for departing and arriving passengers. = Sea-Tac also becomes one of the first major U.S. airports to open new = facilities with integrated baggage and security systems since the events = of Sept. 11, 2001. The 2,102-foot Concourse A includes 14 airline gates, a dozen new = restaurants and shops, several pieces of new artwork and the airport's = first moving sidewalks. From the airfield side, passengers and employees = will have expansive views of the Olympic Mountains. The adjacent Arrivals Hall, with its soaring exposed structural steel = ceiling and 300-foot-long curved wall of glass, will provide a spacious, = light-drenched place for people to meet arriving passengers. Both inside = and outside the window wall is a unique rock and water feature, designed = by famed landscape architect Robert Murase. Other new features include ticketing and baggage claim facilities and a = 10-station security checkpoint. "The architects and the airport faced the dual challenge of meeting new = and, at the time, largely undefined security requirements while creating = an airport experience that would make travelers in a post 9/11 world = feel safe and comfortable. The result was truly successful," said Gina = Marie Lindsey, Sea-Tac's managing director. Four new baggage carousels will expand the existing baggage claim area. = The new integrated security system for outgoing baggage features 100 = percent explosives detection equipment in an efficient, in-line conveyor = design. This system will handle one-third of all baggage at Sea-Tac, an = average of about 52,000 bags on a typical summer day. The new ticket counters are already occupied by Asiana, SAS, British = Airlines, Aeroflot and EVA. American Airlines, China Airlines, Delta Air = Lines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and = American Trans Air will use the 14 gates. American and Delta will open = new VIP lounges. Despite the concourse's almost half-mile length, passengers are never = more than 300 feet from services and amenities. Concourse A will have = Starbucks and the airport's first true food court, with a view of Mount = Rainier. It will offer passengers choices including Manchu Wok, Great = American Bagel Bakery, Africa Lounge, Starbucks Coffee and The Grove = Natural Snacks. Further down the concourse will be Tully's Coffee, Red = Hook Mountain Room and La Pisa Caf=E9. Hudson Group will have five = news/bookstores along the concourse. Nearly $2 million worth of spectacular new public art was integrated = into the public areas and concourse for both practical and aesthetic = reasons. A stunning art glass wall, for example, will help guide = passengers to the escalator going to the satellite train station. The expansion lengthens the drop-off area on the airport drives by 125 = feet, giving motorists more area for dropping off passengers. There also = is a new Combined Communications and Control Center, in a secure section = of the new concourse, where emergency and non-emergency duties were = consolidated. On June 10-just days before the airport opens its new facilities, = Princess Cruises, which sails regularly from Seattle to Alaska, will = christen its newest and biggest West Coast ship in the Seattle harbor: = The Princess Sapphire. To commemorate these two extraordinary events, = Gov. Gary Locke recently declared Friday, June 11, Port of Seattle Day.=20 =20