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15 US Airports Need To Expand In Next Decade - Govt Study
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Copyright =A9 2004, Dow Jones Newswires=09
ATLANTA (AP)--Fifteen of the nation's airports, including Newark Liberty
International, need to expand in the next decade to meet passenger
growth projections, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said Thursday
as he released a study suggesting more cities should consider building
new runways and control towers.=20
"This report is sobering news," Mineta told reporters in Atlanta. "We
saw the congestion coming...but, indeed, more needs to be done."=20
Mineta spoke at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where
he was briefed on the progress of construction of a $27 million air
traffic control tower and a $1.28 billion runway, the fifth at the
world's busiest airport in terms of passengers.=20
The 398-foot tower, the second-largest airport tower behind Kuala
Lampur's 425-foot structure, is expected to be completed in October
2005. The 9,000-foot runway, spanning Interstate 285, should be
operational in May 2006.=20
"Smart communities like Atlanta are already planning their future by
staying one step ahead," Mineta said.=20
But in the study he released, Mineta said there are some communities
around the country that need to expand to prevent future gridlock at
their airports.=20
"As you can tell from this busy airport, the passengers are back, and
they are back in a big way," Mineta said, as he stood at the
construction site of Atlanta's new runway.=20
The federal study reviewed population trends, societal shifts and the
changing dynamics of the airline industry.=20
It found that 23 of the nation's fastest-growing airports will need to
add capacity in order to meet air traffic growth over the next two
decades, 15 of them by 2013.=20
However, there are only seven commissioned runway projects currently
under way, the agency said. Runway projects are in the planning stage in
another dozen or so cities.=20
Of the 15 airports that the study says will need to expand by 2013, at
least two -Newark Liberty and Palm Beach (Fla.) International Airport
-do not have any new runways under way or in the planning stage,
according to an agency list.=20
Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Newark airport, said the airport
currently has three runways, but there is no room for a fourth because
of surrounding highways, waterways and communities. He said a new air
traffic control tower went into operation last year.=20
"We look at this not so much as a capacity issue but as an efficiency
issue," DiFulco said.=20
He said his airport believes it can meet passenger growth projections in
the years to come by encouraging the airlines to increase the number of
passengers per aircraft. He added that the Newark airport is planning to
upgrade one of its three terminals.=20
Jerry Allen, director of planning and development for the airport in
West Palm Beach, said his airport is considering expanding one of its
three runways to allow for business jets to be landed there instead of
only general aviation aircraft. There are no plans for a fourth runway,
he said.=20
The FAA, he said, is doing a study involving the possibility of a new
air traffic control tower there.=20
"Certainly, Palm Beach County is a growth area and one of the things we
are seeing is a growth in the business jet," Allen said, citing an
increase in disposable income of people who use that airport.=20
Many of the airports cited in the study as needing to expand are in the
South and Southwest. Elsewhere, larger cities like New York, Los
Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and Providence, R.I., also are expected
to face a capacity crunch, the Department of Transportation said.=20
A sixth runway is expected to be completed at Boston's airport in 2006,
while runway projects are being considered in Philadelphia, Los Angeles
and Chicago, the agency said.=20
(END) Dow Jones Newswires=20
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