Las Vegas airport set for major expansion LAS VEGAS (AP) =97 McCarran International Airport intends to undergo a major= =20 expansion over the next decade to handle a growing number of passengers=20 flying to Las Vegas. The country's seventh-busiest airport plans to build=20 an additional 34 new gates, including a new terminal, and install high-tech= =20 baggage screening equipment for about $1.25 billion. Airport officials said= =20 McCarran must grow if it wants to serve the increasing number of people who= =20 travel to Las Vegas annually. Last year, the airport handled 35.2 million=20 people. In 2015, McCarran expects to accommodate 55.6 million passengers.=20 The airport is a vital link to the outside world and its cash, said Randy=20 Walker, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation. The airport funnels about $25 billion to the Las Vegas Valley each year,=20 and keeping up with the area's growth is a constant challenge, he said.=20 "The hotels have created the demand," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.= =20 "And we never want anyone to say the reason they couldn't grow, hotel rooms= =20 couldn't be built or the (businesses) already here can't be successful was= =20 because the airport was a constraining factor." According to the Las Vegas= =20 Convention and Visitors Authority, about half of this year's southern=20 Nevada visitors will arrive by plane. To handle the area's anticipated air= =20 traffic increase, the Clark County Commission in 2000 approved a master=20 plan for long-term capital improvements at McCarran and other local= airports. While new construction was halted temporarily in fall 2001, Walker said=20 work on several projects will create major changes at county aviation=20 facilities. The first project will add a 10-gate northeast wing to=20 McCarran's D-gates concourse, Walker said. Work on the addition should=20 begin in late January and will require about two years to complete. When the D-gates' third wing nears its capacity, work would begin on=20 Terminal 3. That project, which would add 14 new gates, tentatively is=20 slated to open in summer 2008. Terminal 3 would be followed by the 10-gate northwest wing of the D-gates=20 concourse, the final passenger concourse to be built at McCarran, Walker=20 said. In addition, the department is working with representatives from=20 several rental car companies to determine the need for a proposed=20 consolidated rental car facility. Walker also said McCarran will be able to= =20 house up to 60 explosive detection devices with space freed up thanks to=20 the new buildings. That should ease security delays at the airport in the=20 future. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (I95.5FM) http://www.i955fm.com (Radio Station I95.5FM) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************