Inside Delta's new $3.9billion Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport in New York City amid huge modernization project

Delta Air Lines' new Terminal C is opening at New York's LaGuardia Airport, part of an $8 billion project to modernize the entire facility.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined Delta CEO Ed Bastian and other officials for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday.

The new concourse is the first phase of the Delta's new $3.9billion terminal at LaGuardia. 

Seven new gates will begin operating next Monday. The terminal will eventually have 37 gates across four concourses.

The massive investment in LaGuardia is part of a plan modernize the airport, which some have criticized as being left behind by international rivals.

In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden said in a speech: 'If I took you and blindfolded you and took you to LaGuardia Airport in New York, you'd think, ‘I must be in some third-world country.'

Last December, a new concourse opened in LaGuardia's Terminal B, which serves American, United, Southwest and Air Canada.

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Delta' new Terminal C opened at New York's LaGuardia Airport as part of an $8 billion project to modernize the entire facility

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Seven new gates will begin operating next Monday, and it will eventually have 37 of them

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The facility is powered by a Con Edison substation, with major electrical equipment housed on the upper level to protect against flooding

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Rendering of how the airport will eventually look when the $8billion upgrades are complete

Cuomo said the progress contradicts naysayers who thought it would be impossible to rebuild the airport while still using it. Old facilities are being demolished only as new ones are completed.

Other planned improvements include more tarmac space to reduce gate delays, restaurants and other amenities, new roads and rail service between LaGuardia and midtown Manhattan. 

The new Delta terminal will have technology that helps pilots park their planes and automatically positions passenger boarding bridges. 

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Other planned improvements include more tarmac space to reduce gate delays, restaurants and other amenities

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Other planned improvements include restaurants and other amenities, new roads and rail service between LaGuardia and midtown Manhattan.

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 Technology will automatically position passenger boarding bridges at the terminal

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Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, center, meets with employees at the new $3.9 billion Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport

The facility is powered by a Con Edison substation, with major electrical equipment housed on the upper level to protect against flooding if there's a major storm.

Another feature is a system that makes ice at night, when energy demand is lower, and uses it to help cool the building during hot summer days.

About 31 million passengers are expected to use LaGuardia this year.

New Delta Terminal C is opening at LaGuardia Airport in New York

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A traveler sits at a gate in the new $3.9 billion Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport

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Renderings were released in 2015 of how the airport will eventually look

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The latest upgrades are part of a huge plan to modernize LaGuardia