George Bush Intercontinental, William P. Hobby and Ellington airports were responsible for a combined $40.6 billion in economic output, and supported 208,000 jobs in Houston, Szczesniak said.
Szczesniak detailed the contributions of each airport to the total economic output, with IAH responsible for about $30 billion, Hobby Airport responsible for about $8 billion and Ellington Airport contributing about $2 billion.
By the numbers
According to data from the Houston Airport System, the three airports:
- Handled over 60 million passengers in 2023
- Produced $13.8 billion in cargo-related output
- Moved over 534,000 metric tons of cargo through Houston in 2023
Also of note
At IAH and Hobby airports, there’s over $5 billion in construction projects underway, Szczesniak said. Those include:
- Adding more gates, a new ticketing and baggage hall to IAH’s Terminal B, which is set to be completed by fall 2026.
- Adding an international terminal to IAH, which will open in two phases in 2025.
- An expansion of Hobby Airport’s west concourse, which is set to include seven new gates and a new baggage handling system.
What else?
Szczesniak said a new parking system will be introduced to IAH by the summer of 2025. Already installed at Hobby Airport, the new system will allow flyers to reserve parking spots on their phone and will feature license plate scanners to make it a cashless system, Szczesniak said.
“All of these improvements are more than just physical changes. There are promises to our past members that their experience matters,” Szczesniak said.
