DFW is but one of seven airports on the planet with 200-plus directly- accessible destinations

Over in Terminal D there’s a little bit more room to stretch out and get some soul-saving sleep too. The first of two Minute Suites planned for the airport is now open near Gate D23. It comes replete with nine sleeping suites and a pair of showers, the better to battle the ravages of the road.

Then there’s aural relief. All four terminals that are being re-done, beginning with A, are getting new terrazzo floors to replace those clattery tiles that made your roller bags go clickety-clack. Small stuff, perhaps – but it matters in a world where everybody’s got roller bags.

That’s the least of the changes fliers to the Metroplex can expect can you expect when you get there?

Currently, there’s no light rail service from Dallas or Fort Worth to DFW’s terminals per se. That should change in December 2014 according to Morgan Lyons, spokesman for Dallas Area Rapid Transit. DART plans to begin running rails through the north end of the airport into Terminal A, a key American Airlines facility. The ride to downtown Dallas should take 30 to 40 minutes. As for westward ground connections, he says,“The Fort Worth Transportation Authority plans to bring in a rail line to connect to Terminal B”on the west, or Fort Worth side, of the airport. That’s a bit farther down the line, with its opening, perhaps, in 2017.

Currently, rail service is sort of clunky to and from the mid-cities megaport. Passengers can ride the Trinity Railway Express to either Dallas or Fort Worth – but it entails a shuttle bus transfer.

While Dallas Love Field is getting an airy, modern new airside terminal, ticketing halls and baggage claim area at a price tag of some $519 million, Dallas/Fort Worth International is undergoing that multibillion-dollar TIP (terminal improvement project) we alluded to. Lots of behind-thescenes blocking and tackling projects here – HVAC, power, water, that sort of stuff.

What fliers will most notice is security checkpoint upgrades.“We’re making the checkpoints themselves larger,”says Magaña.“[We’re] turning them 90 degrees. Instead of going across the narrow width of our terminals, they’re now actually going the length of the terminals.”The result?: “A little bit more ability to put more room in here.” over the coming years. Spirit’s on the rise and Southwest is about to shed its Love Field shackles. Overshadowing it all is the fate of the New American. But there’s no doubt this North Texas duo shows no signs of shrinking. BT

Air China has begun new services out of Beijing to Geneva and Houston. Both services operate four times weekly.

For more information visit airchina.com.