In its most ambitious undertaking since the early 1990s, Orlando International Airport has launched a $1.1 billion expansion that will replace long check-in counters with small self-service kiosks plus add a new parking garage and train terminal.

Several key airlines oppose the latest round of construction, led by Southwest Air. The airlines are bothered  by the expensive costs associated with adding the parking garage and extending the people mover to serve it, arguing that they lay the groundwork for a new, southern terminal that is unnecessary.

But Orlando International Executive Director Phil Brown said the work is necessary to keep the airport up to date and serving travelers efficiently. The existing terminal and baggage facilities were built to handle 24 million passengers. The airport now handles about 35 million travelers a year.

Once the airport hits 45 million passengers a year, airport officials want to start building the southern terminal about a mile south of the existing one at an additional cost of $1 billion.

The train terminal to be built will accept passengers from the All Aboard Florida train connecting South Florida to the airport by mid-2017.

Brown said the airport is financing all the work through a combination of selling bonds, obtaining grants and loans from the federal and state governments and extending a $4.50 fee on every ticket into and out of the airport.

Former Orange County mayor Linda Chapin will be one of three people on a committee charged with reviewing how the money is spent and to monitor on the progress of the project.

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