Washington Dulles International Airport - Terminals

Terminals

The main terminal houses ticketing, baggage claim, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Z gates, and other support facilities. From here, passengers can take the Aerotrain or mobile lounges to their concourses, Mobile lounges directly to their airplanes, or take the underground passenger walkway to concourse A/B. The plane mates/mobile lounges are also used to transport passengers arriving on international flights directly to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection center located in the International Arrivals Building adjacent to the west side of the main terminal. The entire terminal complex has 123 gates and 16 hardstand locations from which passengers can board or disembark using the airport's plane mate vehicles.

Dulles is one of the few remaining airports to use the mobile lounge (also known as "plane mates" or "people movers") for boarding and disembarkation from aircraft, to transfer passengers between the midfield concourses and to and from the main terminal building. They have all been given names based on the postal abbreviations of 50 states, e.g.: VA, MD, AK. The Airport Authority has begun to gradually phase out the mobile lounge system for inter-terminal passenger movements in favor of the underground people mover, which currently operates to concourses A, B and C and pedestrian walkway system (now in service to concourse A/B). The plane mates are still used to transport passengers to the D terminal. Plane mates will also remain in use to disembark international passengers and carry them to the International Arrivals Building, as well as to convey passengers to and from aircraft on hard stand (i.e., those parked remotely on the apron without access to jet bridges).