"Cincinnati Airport ahead of growth, FAA reports"

Friday, June 25, 2004
 
Airport ahead of growth, FAA reports 
New runway should do through 2020 
By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer


Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is one of a few major
national airports that will not need to expand - if the current runway
project is finished as scheduled - a federal report issued Thursday
says. 

The report, released by the Federal Aviation Administration, says that
five of the nation's 35 busiest airports need an immediate capacity
improvement to handle passenger and cargo growth. 

Another 11 will need some sort of expansion by 2013 to meet demand, the
FAA says. 

But the report says the local airport should meet passenger demand in
2020 if the ongoing $252.6 million runway project is completed on
schedule. 

The airport is in the midst of constructing a fourth runway, an
8,000-foot north-south strip, along with a 2,000-foot extension to the
western end of the east-west runway. 

The extension is scheduled to open by the end of this year, while the
new runway is set to open by next December. 

"Investing in airports today means jobs and economic prosperity for
tomorrow," said Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. "Let this
report be a wake-up call to cities across America whose economies are
taking off." 

He said Cincinnati, Atlanta and Minneapolis are already adding capacity
to prepare for passenger growth. 

Airport aviation director Bob Holscher said he hoped the new runway
would handle increasing traffic. 

"We know we're in very rare company," said Holscher, referring to the
number of runways built here recently. "We're not to the point of
looking at what could be needed next ... although we could run into a
problem on our east-west runways."


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