Definitely agree with you. I only found out it was a movie set when I read the trivia.

I didn't even realize it was a movie set. They did an outstanding job making it look completely real with all the attention to detail.

I agree, I think this is one of the finest sets ever constructed for a movie!
I have the 2disc dvd, and there's a neat featurette on how they build and designed the set and you get a really cool look at all the details and such! I REALLY like this movie set and the movie itself of course.

Of course my being more of a "movie and television buff" than perhaps the
average viewer, I had done research on this film even prior to watching it for
the first time and found about Steven Spielberg's building this amazing
airport terminal set in a (very large) hangar somewhere.
Later, after purchasing an excellent book chronicling Mr. Spielberg's early
life and all subsequent films, this "terminal set" was discussed a length, with
some really nice pictures. So you are right, Ken1260, it was so realistic
looking that I'm sure that many people thought that "The Terminal" was actually
shot in an existing airline terminal.

I think the problem was it looked too real and looked like it was actually film in an airport so unless you knew they were sets, you wouldn't give it a second thought to nominate it for Set Design.