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WASHINGTON (CNN) — Brand new runways are opening at three major airports Thursday, giving the aviation community something to cheer about in a year of dismal economic and travel news.

Washington Dulles International Airport’s new runway opens Thursday ahead of the busy holiday travel season.

Washington Dulles International Airport will get a fourth runway, its first runway addition since the airport opened in 1962.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport’s new runway is part of a massive, multi-billion dollar modernization program. Previously, six of the airport’s seven runways intersected. When the entire project is completed in 2014, the airport will have eight runways in parallel configurations considered safer and more efficient.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s new runway is being especially welcomed because of the region’s notoriously wet climate. The airport’s third runway will allow planes to take off and land two abreast during inclement weather. The current runways are too close to allow simultaneous operations in foul weather. Airport officials claim the new runway will cut delays in half.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said travelers will benefit from coast to coast.

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"It is going to make a difference," Peters said. "It is going to allow us to conduct more operations, meaning more takeoffs and landings per hour at these airports and will help move passengers efficiently through.

"That, we hope, will give travelers a good experience this holiday season," she said.

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President Bush, this week, touted the arrival of the three new runways, noting that 14 new runways will have opened during his administration.

However, aviation experts warn airport infrastructure still lags behind demand, and that real estate realities in the New York area, perceived to be the epicenter of aviation delays, mean that new runways are least likely to be built where they are most needed.

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"It would really be nice if we had even one new runway" at each of the nation’s most congested airports, namely LaGuardia, Newark and JFK," aviation consultant Darryl Jenkins said. "It would do an enormous amount to relieve congestion throughout the entire nation." iReport.com: What are your holiday travel plans?

Jenkins said new runways in New York are pipe dreams because of land constraints and local opposition.

"Local opposition wins. There’s no opposition that is as tough to beat down as local opposition," he said.

Chicago O’Hare’s International Airport, which has purchased more than 500 single-family homes to make room for expansion

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