Inside Seattle Tacoma International Airport’s Constraints

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), an airport with 103 gates, is also constrained. SEA with 103 gates still occasionally needs buses to shuttle passengers to flights, cannot accommodate regular A380 flights, and lacks land to build out.

103 gates but still need buses?

Yes, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) may have 103 gates, but it still does need buses to shuttle passengers to planes. As Chris Sullivan, KIRO Newsradio found recently, to watch his US football long snapper son play he had to go to gate D26 to board buses to go to his airliner parked in the air cargo area. Sullivan then checked in with SEA’s spokesperson Perry Cooper, about why and found,

“Two million passengers had to take buses to or from their planes at Sea-Tac Airport in 2019, maybe 2-4% of total passengers. So far this year about 220,000 passengers have done it.”

Even though the number has gone down tenfold between 2019 and 2023, the need is still there for airport buses.

Photo: Rich T Photo / Shutterstock

These buses, as pictured above from another airport, are extra wide and intended to accommodate passengers plus their carry-on luggage. However, as Sullivan found out, the boarding position for the airliner can be rearranged due to the arrangement.

Why no A380 flights into SEA?

As regular listeners to the Simple Flying podcast know, Tom Boon, our Content Manager, is an Airbus A380 fan. So, too is this author, who pre-pandemic, would go up to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to spot the British Airways A380:

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

So, I inquired with Cooper how an A380 could come to SEA. Cooper kindly shared with Simple Flying that SEA lacks the double-loading bridges required for accommodating a double-decker jet. Nor is the A380 “optimal for operation” for airlines using SEA.

However, there is a chance to see an A380 at SEA. How? As Cooper shared,

“We do have the capacity to allow an A380 to arrive, and have had several over the years for emergencies or tech stops. However, due to the safety restrictions with its size, all traffic on runways and taxiways have to stop until it gets to its gate. Due to its length, it goes beyond the safety windows around the runways and taxiways, so no other aircraft can be in adjoining spaces,

“We do have a setup for it in emergencies at the far west end of S Concourse, at S11. Typically, what’s happened in the past is they’ve stopped on a hot day coming from the Middle East. They didn’t have enough fuel to continue on to SFO or LAX, so they stop here, get a splash of fuel, and then continue on.”

But there is hope for more gates

Yes, SEA is constrained by landmass. As Cooper explained,

“There’s ‘need’ vs. ‘reality.’ We are surrounded by three cities and have one of the smallest footprints of a US airport managing the volume of passengers that we have. So, we don’t have the ability to just add a new building or gates. We don’t have extra land to just build out.”

Hence, each Upgrade SEA project to expand airport amenities has a vertical element – such as the Concourse C expansion and the SEA Gateway project. But there is a Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) being worked on since 2018 to propose 19 more gates with a new terminal to the north plus more air cargo facilities. The Draft SAMP will go for public comment in late 2024.

What are your takeaways? Feel free to share in the comments with civility.

Sources: KIRO Newsradio, Port of Seattle SAMP