Tucson Expanding Airport

Tucson Expanding Airport
Arizona Republic, AZ

Dec. 30, 2003 


Air traffic at Tucson International Airport is projected to double in 20 years 
and the airport is taking steps to accommodate it.

A master-plan update calls for adding a second commercial runway this decade to 
handle increased traffic. The plan also calls for concourse expansions in the 
terminal, a parking structure in front of the terminal, a new control tower and 
new fueling, freight and airport vehicle-maintenance facilities. 

All of those elements would give the airport adequate facilities to serve 7 
million passengers a year, the projected count 20 years from now. The airport 
currently serves 3.5 million passengers a year.

Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix handles 36 million passengers a 
year. Sky Harbor also is expanding. A consolidated facility will house all 
operations for a fleet of 40,000 rental cars. Down the road, Terminal 2 will be 
replaced and an automated people mover will connect terminals with the rental 
car facility.

The Tucson plan calls for new restrooms, possibly more gates and a larger area 
in the terminal to meet arriving passengers. The airport has 20 gates. 
Projections call for 23 to support the traffic in the next 20 years, Tucson 
Airport Authority Planning Director Jill Merrick said. 

"You'll find it's one of those standard infrastructure items you have to have, 
just like roads and freeways," said Steve Weathers, president of the Greater 
Tucson Economic Council. "It's critical to the growth and retention of jobs."

"The perception is that we have not been well-served," added Bruce Wright, 
associate vice president at the University of Arizona's Office of Economic 
Development. 

The airport authority is doing a cost-benefit analysis on the estimated $50 
million runway project, and a design team may be hired in early spring, Merrick 
said. 

The cost-benefit analysis will be submitted to the Federal Aviation 
Administration in the spring. If the runway receives FAA approval, it will take 
12 to 18 months to build, Merrick said, adding that the FAA would pay 91 
percent of the cost.

"The soonest we would see a runway is eight years from now," she said.
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