"New York Port Authority to Renovate Terminal at LaGuardia Airport"

Monday, June 7, 2004

New York Port Authority to Renovate Terminal at LaGuardia Airport
The New York (NY) Daily News


The Port Authority Board of Commissioners has authorized a study of
possible modernization and expansion of the Central Terminal Building at
LaGuardia Airport.

The study will be initiated to help the Port Authority develop plans to
meet the projected growth of the number of passengers. LaGuardia is
expected to handle more than 30 million passengers a year in 2015-2020,
compared with 22.5million last year.

"Passenger growth for the next decade is expected to average more than 3
percent annually, which makes it imperative that we plan carefully for
the facilities that will accommodate the increased numbers of
passengers," said Chairman Anthony Coscia.

In 1964, the year LaGuardia's Central Terminal opened, 3.7 million
passengers used the airport. At its peak, in 2000, the passenger total
reached 25.4 million. Current forecasts project passenger traffic at
LaGuardia to increase more than 3 percent this year, to 23.2million.

LaGuardia has become one of the most important aviation facilities in
the nation from its humble beginnings as a small airfield in 1929.

"Travelers, ultimately, will enjoy tremendous advantages from our
proposed improvements," said Charles Gargano, vice chairman of the Port
Authority. "And the region will benefit as well, because we anticipate
that the various components of the improvement programs will create
thousands of construction jobs, thousands of permanent jobs and nearly
$800 million in annual economic activity."

The planning study is estimated to cost $15 million. It is expected to
be completed by 2007.


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