DALLAS — PS, the private luxury terminal service for commercial flights, announced today that it will expand to Miami International Airport (MIA) and open the airport's first private terminal in 2025.

PS MIA will cater to the frequent affluent traveler with its signature premium experience that is set to combine "global sophistication and local culture" with efficiency, safety, privacy, and luxury amenities.

To avoid the congestion at one of the world's busiest airports, PS MIA will offer members and guests an "elevated lounge experience. The Salon and Private Suites will be equipped with a private balcony, or the landscaped courtyard for some final moments in Miami’s sunshine."

At boarding time, members and guests will be escorted to their commercial flights at any of MIA's concourses, where they will board the plane directly from the tarmac via the jet bridge stairs. For those arriving at MIA, the entire process is reversed, from tarmac pickup to airport departure.

Former Pan-Am Headquarters Revisited

The site of the future PS MIA is the former Pan American World Airways Flight Training Academy, aka the Taj Mahal, which opened for budines in 1980.

In August 1981, Pan American World Airways announced that it was considering relocating the headquarters of its airline division, which employed 500 people, from Manhattan to Miami in an effort to reduce daily losses of more than US$1m, signaling what was to come for the airline.

The MIA training division operated until the airline closed on December 4, 1991. A year later, the training academy was permitted to remain open independently under its current name, Pan Am International Flight Academy.

PS MIA will bring together a team of architects, interior designers, and contractors with experience in historic preservation, led by acclaimed architect Richard Heisenbottle, who has been lauded for leading Florida's preservation efforts.

The PS design team says it will create a space that is “adaptable, effective, modern, and beautiful” in accordance with the Miami-Dade County Historic Preservation Ordinance and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for the Restoration and Rehabilitation of Historic Structures.

PS's signature premium experience, which will breathe new life into the former Pan American Regional Headquarters, will celebrate the legacy of its historic new home, demonstrating architectural innovation, creativity, and deference to the building's past.

Comments from PS, Miami Dade Officials

“As the nation’s busiest airport for international passengers, with more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other, MIA is an intuitive location for our expansion. We look forward to bringing the superior service and convenience for which PS is known to the discerning travelers that fly to and through Miami,” said Amina Belouizdad Porter, CEO of PS. “We are grateful for the trust placed in us by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department and take seriously our stewardship of this iconic building.”

“We look forward to welcoming PS MIA and seeing the transformation of this historic building,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “MIA is a world-class airport, so what better location to offer these wonderful world-class services than Pan Am’s former Miami headquarters, the epicenter of the aviation industry’s golden age.”

PS MIA opens in the midst of a year of significant growth for the PS brand, with new locations set to open in Atlanta (ATL) this summer and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) in spring 2024. Following the success of PS LAX, the brand's first terminal, this robust pipeline reflects the brand's reputation in luxury hospitality as well as the increased demand among travelers for added privacy, safety, and a tailored experience.

PS (formerly known as The Private Suite) was launched in Los Angeles in Spring 2017 as the first private terminal for commercial travel in the United States.

Featured Rendering: RJ Heisenbottle Architects

https://airwaysmag.com/mia-driving-american-flower-industry/