I am sitting here in the A concourse in SDQ looking at 5 gates of fun and thinking...

For an av buff, is there anything cooler than a 1970s style round head house (concourse ending in a circle)?

Realistically, they are totally impractical in today’s world...but that is what makes them so special!

EWR
JFK
LAX
IAH
CLE
DCA
DTW

To name a few.

There is something incredibly cool about sitting and being encircled by 5 planes parked at their gates in a perfect formation.

I don't think JFK had that since T6 was demolished. Also, don't forget LAS.

evank516 wrote:

I don't think JFK had that since T6 was demolished. Also, don't forget LAS.

SAN as well, right?

ATL had two large "rotundas" at the ends of two Delta terminals at the old Hartsfield terminal. The windows were at least 50 feet high, and the ceiling even higher... You could see birds flying around!

IND's old terminal had rotundas at the ends of concourses B and C.

LAX still has oval rotundas at the ends of some of its terminals (the original terminals).

JFK T6 had two rotundas, and T5 (TWA Flight Center) had a guitar-shaped concourse (Flight Wing One) and the other concourse was pentagonal with two trumpets.

SmithAir747

ANC

LGW Has one at the South Terminal, it used to be connected to the main terminal but shuttle train but is now connected by an exponentially long walk way.

MCI

DUB T1 still uses these for most non LCC airlines. 200 gates - crudely bodged in to having separation of passengers as now expected and 300 gates - always segregated and with jetbridges.

There are two at PEK T1, which is the original terminal and is used right now by HNA Group's (mainly HU) domestic flights.

NRT T1 also has 2 round headhouses, along with a diamond shaped headhouse.

And now to make everyone shudder... Terminal A and Terminal B at EWR have round concourses.

FCO has a beautiful new terminal with a rotunda for intercontinental flights

MSY's concourse D is sorta like that (six gates in a circle) and two of the concourses in the North Terminal will be similar.

FRA Terminal 1 - gates at Concourse B

I remember when Terminals A and B opened at EWR in 1973. Prior to that the old EWR terminal was real armpit. They actually used to drive baggage carts into the building. It was worse than third world. You may not like the current terminals, but they were like the Taj Mahal when compared to the old facility.

zakuivcustom wrote:

There are two at PEK T1, which is the original terminal and is used right now by HNA Group's (mainly HU) domestic flights.

NRT T1 also has 2 round headhouses, along with a diamond shaped headhouse.

NRT: We aircrews called them the 'banjo's" in the 90s

Just at MSY this week and the end of the D concourse is still in use as a round departure area. Great spotting place while waiting for a flight.
Soon to go away with the new MSY terminal.

LIT has a small round circular gate area at the end of the concourse. I believe WN uses those gates.

The SAN rotundas on Terminal 1 are terrific classics...but wow was the WN one crowded when I was there in July!

DAL's groovy late 60's-early 70's Braniff terminal had a rotunda at the end of its concourse.

MKE's Concourse E had a rotunda on the end that was clear all the way through. I only visited it in the 00's. It's not used as gate space anymore, am not sure if it is still standing. But in the 90's it must have been something to see a Northwest Orient DC-10, and DC-9's and 727's around you!

Jim

the end of Concourse E at Philadelphia International Airport (Southwest Airlines gates).

quoting yonikasz (Reply # 8), "MCI."

No, MCI has circular terminals, not rotundas at the end of concourses. Not what the original poster was talking about.

quoting jfklganyc (thread starter), "they are totally impractical in today’s world..."

why do you think that? It seems to me rotundas actually provide excellent use of space by allowing multiple aircraft to congregate in a small area.

e38

Abu Dhabi Terminal 1.....

Fiend wrote:

Abu Dhabi Terminal 1.....

alggag wrote:

CDG has one. I flew out of it last year on AA and I remember thinking that it looked like a flying saucer.

The flying saucers of AUH, terminal 1.

I love DCA's terminal A. Just screams retro.

BNE Domestic has three!



(from top to bottom, QF, JQ/TT, and VA)

Plus SYD T3 (QF Domestic) has a fairly good one too:



(not a bad place to spot either - there's six B738s on the gates there, an A332 at the top corner, two B712s, and two DH8Ds to boot. Plus the hangers along the top of the image are part of the QF Jet Base and quite often have a nice arrangement of QF aircraft undergoing maintenance, and if you look out past the A332 you'll see one of QF's run-up pads and beyond it some hard-stands where the likes of DL and BA's 777s, and FX's cargo birds, wait for their next flight)

One that's not mentioned yet: although not round headhouses, GVA has 3 satellites that are completely circular in shape (Unlike the satellite in T1 of CDG).

I always imagined these were little bandaids put on to alleviate special needs for the airport at the time without making major infrastructure changes. Especially useful at gates where you'd have a high volume of passengers that you don't want clogging the main arteries.

DTW used to have three in the old Berry terminal, one in the Davey terminal, and two in the Smith.

DocLightning wrote:

DTW used to have three in the old Berry terminal, one in the Davey terminal, and two in the Smith.

Which, is what I said basically.

Web500sjc wrote:

And now to make everyone shudder... Terminal A and Terminal B at EWR have round concourses.

Looking at the Historic Aerials website the aerial shot of EWR from (I think) 1970 shows the construction of all three terminals. It looks like Terminal C was to have three "banjos" like the other two. It looks like the framing of the three concourses in Terminal C were laid down/set in place but then at some point were taken down to make way for the present configuration of Terminal C.

tmu101 wrote:

Web500sjc wrote:

And now to make everyone shudder... Terminal A and Terminal B at EWR have round concourses.

Looking at the Historic Aerials website the aerial shot of EWR from (I think) 1970 shows the construction of all three terminals. It looks like Terminal C was to have three "banjos" like the other two. It looks like the framing of the three concourses in Terminal C were laid down/set in place but then at some point were taken down to make way for the present configuration of Terminal C.

Yes, I remember in the 70's seeing the metal framework for the "banjos" behind the empty Terminal C. Nobody knew when enough traffic would develop at EWR to warrant the completion of Term. C. Term's. A, B, and C were all to be pretty much alike. It wasn't until PeopleExpress outgrew the old North Terminal in the 80's that construction of Term. C was resumed. But PeopleExpress changed the design of the concourses to what you see today (well just the southern and middle concourses--the northern one came later).

I wonder if anyone knows when one of the banjos in Term B got up-sized compared with the others?

global2 wrote:

tmu101 wrote:

Web500sjc wrote:

And now to make everyone shudder... Terminal A and Terminal B at EWR have round concourses.

Looking at the Historic Aerials website the aerial shot of EWR from (I think) 1970 shows the construction of all three terminals. It looks like Terminal C was to have three "banjos" like the other two. It looks like the framing of the three concourses in Terminal C were laid down/set in place but then at some point were taken down to make way for the present configuration of Terminal C.

Yes, I remember in the 70's seeing the metal framework for the "banjos" behind the empty Terminal C. Nobody knew when enough traffic would develop at EWR to warrant the completion of Term. C. Term's. A, B, and C were all to be pretty much alike. It wasn't until PeopleExpress outgrew the old North Terminal in the 80's that construction of Term. C was resumed. But PeopleExpress changed the design of the concourses to what you see today (well just the southern and middle concourses--the northern one came later).

I wonder if anyone knows when one of the banjos in Term B got up-sized compared with the others?

That's a good question. I arrived from a school field trip to Europe at B-3 on British Airways back in 1993 and I think it was already enlarged. I recall they were just starting to build the international building between B-2 and B-3 banjos and B-3 was already enlarged (I believe). Before 1993 would be my guess.

Arriving from overseas I recall being quarantined along the outside of the B-3 "banjo" and directed to the immigration booths separated from the gate seating areas. After passport check we were directed to the "neck" of the banjo that was divided in two and led directly to CPB on the arrivals level of the Terminal B headhouse. It was 25 years ago ( ) so my memory is fuzzy on the details but that's how I remembered it.

I think one could safely say that the original Pan Am Worldport at JFK qualiified, though it was more oval in shape.