Bostonista to Logan: Keep it coming

Bostonista loves a good ribbon-cutting ceremony. Particularly when said ribbon is attached to a giant, oblong box that might just contain, say, that house-warming gift we keep hinting at. But we digress; today’s real ribbon-cutting party is exciting, too. Especially since it’s at one of our most favorite local haunts, Logan Airport.

Ever since Delta went ahead and spiffed up its glass-enclosed Terminal A, the airport’s other wings have felt a bit second rate. (Except for the notoriously shabby AirTran Terminal, which is, at best, fourth or fifth rate.)

Not to be outdone, American Airlines‘s Terminal B rallied with some $33 million in new construction, restaurants, and shops. The whole glossy affair officially opens today.

BAA Boston, the folks behind the spruced up Terminal B AIRMALL, is touting nearly 25,000 square feet of new concession areas, which, in turn, can now seat up to 450 people. That’s welcome news for those of us used to sitting on our luggage beneath a row of germ-ridden pay phones.

The renovation includes all the usual airport suspects—Starbucks, Sunglass Hut, Au Bon Pain, a Todd English eatery—as well as the mani/pedi yielding XpresSpa, Nantucket-based Cisco Brew Pub, and an amped-up Hudson News.

All good news for bored travelers (but perhaps not so good for their wallets; the BAA estimates per-person spending in the terminal will move from $7.42 to $10.80).

A few days ago, Bostonista was walking around the Newark airport, marveling at the sheer amount of food and shopping options. This is a real international airport, we thought. It’s nice to know that Boston is quickly catching up and that one day, the Hub will have earned its name in aviation, too.

Terminal B ribbon-cutting ceremony, 1:30 p.m., Logan Airport, 800-235-6426, massport.com.