The world’s busiest passenger airport is getting bigger.

Today, May 16, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport opens the new $1.4 billion Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal, named in honor of the city’s first black mayor.

“The opening of the international terminal is huge for Atlanta,” said the airport’s Aviation General Manager Louis Miller. “It gives international passengers their own terminal with its own entrance, it ends the baggage recheck process for Atlanta–bound passengers, and it enhances the airport’s overall capacity now and for the future.”

The opening of Atlanta airport’s new terminal comes on the heels of some other high-profile — and pricey — terminal openings in 2011, most notably San Francisco International Airport’s $388 million renovated Terminal 2 in April and Sacramento International Airport’s $1 billion new terminal in October.

The airport upgrades don’t stop there. Here are six more projects you may spy next time you fly:

Las Vegas

On June 27, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas will open “T3,” a new high-tech, $2.4 billion terminal that will serve both international and domestic flights.

“Our plans for T3 include self-boarding podiums at all 14 gates, self-service kiosks equipped for customers to print and affix their own baggage tags, and a robust [free] wireless Internet system that will extend out to the ramp and allow customers to log on whether they’re inside the terminal or aboard an aircraft parked at the gate,” said Randall H. Walker, director for the Clark County Department of Aviation.

Miami

This summer, Miami International Airport will open a new federal inspection area at the North Terminal that is twice the size of the existing Concourse E facility. In early 2013, the airport hopes to have the entire multibillion dollar North Terminal project completed. “What remains to be opened are three passenger gates and five of the 10 baggage claim carousels in the international arrivals area,” said Greg Chin, communications director for the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department.

A new AirportLink Metrorail extension that will speed connections to downtown Miami is also being built.

San Diego

San Diego International Airport is halfway through a $1 billion sustainable “Green Build” expansion of its Terminal 2 that is scheduled to be completed in August 2013.

“When complete, Terminal 2 will have 10 new gates, a dual-level roadway to separate arriving and departing passengers, a large, bright concessions core and the largest airport USO in the world,” said Katie Jones, spokesperson for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles International Airport is building a new $1.5 billion Tom Bradley International Terminal, which will include new concourse areas and gates that will be able to accommodate the superjumbo Airbus A380 airplanes.
Renovations and upgrades are also underway throughout the rest of the airport.

New York

And in New York, Delta Air Lines is spending more than $160 million to renovate Terminals C and D at LaGuardia Airport and more than $1.2 billion on John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 4. The LaGuardia project may be completed by the end of 2013; the JFK project, by spring 2013.

That’s a lot of airport-upgrade activity at a time when the economy remains skittish, fuel prices are still sky-high and airlines continue to scale back schedules.

“Airports are investing in modern infrastructure to ensure that their communities, and the companies in them, can successfully compete in an increasingly global economy,” said Greg Principato, president of Airports Council International -North America, an airport membership organization. “These facilities are an investment in our economic future.”

(My story about airport upgrades first appeared on msnbc.com)

Alaska Airlines is joining forces with the non-profit Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to create the world’s largest king salmon.

Stretching nearly 129 feet, the fishy design will be put on a Boeing 737-800 and hit the skies this fall. The design for the new “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon II” is based on an earlier version that was painted onto one of the airline’s 737-400 planes in 2005 and covered over with the airline’s familiar Eskimo livery last year.

Here’s a photo taken by Jeffrey Milstein of the belly of the airplane sporting that first fish.

Alaska Airlines Salmon Thirty Salmon Boeing 737-400

As part of its $4.11 billion facelift, Los Angeles International Airport has finished See Change, a giant public art installation in the newly renovated Tom Bradley International Terminal that includes 17 site-specific media artworks displayed on a 58-screen, a 90-foot linear video filmstrip suspended from the ceiling and a media wall with 25 video monitors.

The artwork ranges from a video collage on the media wall to images moving across the filmstrip, including Ryan Lamb’s “Five-Dimensional Parade,” in which 8mm footage of the 1960 Rose Bowl Parade appears as a distorted and Chip Lord’s work “To & From LAX,” which combines footage and still images from airports around the world, organized to represent actual flight patterns in and out of LAX.

Take a look.

This week’s souvenirs come from the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, where I found these oh-so-New Orleans items for sale in the airport gift shops.

Do you poke through the shops when you’re stuck at the airport? If you’re hanging around and find something fun, inexpensive and ‘of’ the city or region, please snap a photo and send it along. If your souvenir is featured on Souvenir Sunday, I’ll send you a fun travel souvenir.

The book is by photographer, writer and pilot Bruce McAllister and Stephan Wilkinson, a pilot and regular contributor to Smithsonian’s AIR & SPACE.

Here are few more images from the book:

SKYGIRLS is due out in September 2012.

Keeping with their tradition, Volunteer Airport Ambassadors at Florida’s Jacksonville International Airport will have about 1000 carnations to hand out to moms passing through the airport on Mother’s Day.

At Miami International Airport they’re celebrating Mother’s Day Friday through Sunday with discounts, gifts-with-purchase and freebies in the shops, foil-wrapped chocolate roses for moms and events that include live music, a pick-a-pearl game with real oysters and a chance to make last-minute Mother’s Day cards and photo postcards.
(Find the coupons and event locations here.)

At Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports, food and retail concessions posting the sign above will be handing out free flower seed packets (zinnias) to moms from Friday, May 11 through Sunday, May 13, 2012. (While supplies last).

There are also special Mother’s Day sales and gift-with-purchase offers going on at Philadelphia International Airport , at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, at the Swatch stores in JFK International Airport, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and at Boston’s Logan Airport.

In its annual summer forecast, Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade association for most U.S. airlines, noted that airline ticket prices are not keeping pace with the inflation rate and predicted full flights on international routes this summer.

“Customers are benefiting from record airline operational performance and greater access to the global economy while fares continue to trail the price of other services,” said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio.

In its forecast, A4A predicted that from June through August, U.S. airlines will carry an average of 2.24 million travelers globally every day.

“Of the 206.2 million total passengers expected to travel on U.S. airlines this summer, 26.8 million will be traveling on international flights. This estimate surpasses last summer’s record of 26.3 million passengers flown on international flights. Domestically, 179.4 million passengers are expected to fly this summer, comparable to summer 2011.”

Wherever you go, you’ll have to eat.  And the folks at Hotels.com were nice enough to put together this infographic showing the price of a club sandwich around the world.

Aviation in Miami: The First 100 Years

A photography exhibit at Miami International Airport (MIA) celebrates one hundred years of flight in Miami, from the first flight in 1911 to the airport’s current status as the second busiest passenger airport in the United States.

The exhibit is in the Central Terminal, Concourse E, just past the security checkpoint.

All photos courtesy History Miami

With the London 2012 Summer Games less than three months away, Heathrow, the event’s host airport, is already under fire for the Olympic-sized lines that have been greeting arriving passengers in the immigration halls.

Customs checks for illegally smuggled drugs and arms have been reduced at UK airports in an effort to combat long lines and wait times, according to a weekend report in The Guardian, citing “senior immigration officers and border force unions.”

Last week, UK Immigration Minister Damian Green told the BBC that while “there is a problem,” improvements were being made. “For the Olympic period, we are guaranteeing that there will be, at peak times, full manning” of border control desks.

BAA owns Heathrow and five other airports that serve the UK, but is not responsible for immigration wait times.

Heathrow claims it is the world’s busiest airport in terms of international traffic. It
served nearly 70 million passengers in 2011 and is currently operating at capacity. It will be the entry point for at least 80 percent of Olympics-bound passengers, and an estimated 59,000 athletes, family members and spectators.

For my story on msnbc.com, I spoke with Colin Matthews and John Holland-Kaye, BAA’s chief executive and commercial director, respectively.

Q: When did Heathrow begin planning for Olympic Games traffic and how did you go about it?
A: Colin Matthews: Heathrow’s planning for the London 2012 Games began during the bid process for London about five years ago. Since then the Heathrow team has been in Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010 to observe the operational challenges created by both Summer and Winter Games. Heathrow also met with the airport operators who successfully delivered Games transport in Athens and Sydney.

Q: The news has been full of stories lately about arriving passengers having to wait for more than two hours in the immigration halls. Is that what visitors will encounter when they arrive for the Olympics?

A: CM: Immigration is controlled by the Home Office [the UK government agency that oversees immigration and passports]. Immigration waiting times during peak periods at Heathrow recently have been unacceptable, but the good news is that the government recently announced it is going to devote more resources in that area.

Q: The airport is really the front door to the city. It’s the first — and last — place visitors will see. What are you doing to insure Heathrow will make a good impression?

A: John Holland-Kaye: Our strategy involves best practices and recommendations from prior host airports, construction of the temporary terminal for Olympic athletes departing from the Games and investment in additional facilities for Paralympians in the existing terminals. We’ve also been working in collaboration with other airport stakeholders and rehearsing and testing our facilities at their capacity.

Q: How much is Heathrow spending to make the airport games ready? Where do the funds come from?
A: JHK: Heathrow has invested over £20 million [about $32.4 million] in providing a great experience for athletes and regular passengers during the Games period. These funds are entirely Heathrow’s contribution.

Q: What special amenities, exhibits or temporary services will be in place?
A: JHK: We’ll be dressing up the airport. There will be Olympic-themed art exhibits and each passenger terminal will feature theatre and celebrations to surprise and delight passengers. For example, one walkway is going to look like a swimming pool and you’ll feel as if you’re walking on water. There will places where passengers can take photos standing on podiums, next to images of athletes. And we’ll do things like set up a 100 meter track so kids can race against each other.

Q: Everyone loves Olympics-related souvenirs. Will passengers be able to shop for those at the airport?
A: JHK: Yes, there are special souvenir shops set up for Olympics souvenirs. It’s also the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee [marking 60 years of the Queen’s reign], so we’re selling a lot of souvenirs for that. And, royal wedding souvenirs are still very popular.

Q: What are some insider tips about Heathrow you can offer to travelers, Olympics-bound or not?
A: JHK: A few quick ones: There’s an Olympic-themed art exhibit land-side in Terminal 5; there are two family security lanes in each terminal [look for the rainbows] and kids get a sticker when they go through; and at the duty free cosmetic shops in each terminal, you can get a facial or a hand massage for free.

The SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport has put out the first of a three-part video series titled Clipper Glory: The Dawn of Ocean Air Transport.

Museum curator John Hill has assembled oral histories and period still photographs to celebrate the 1st Cross-Ocean scheduled passenger flight, which took place in April, 1937.

Be sure to take a look…