"Newark Airport plans $280M expansion"

Thursday, December 9, 2004

Newark Airport plans $280M expansion 
Five-year project to be approved by P.A. today would add a new level and
security to congested Terminal B 
BY RON MARSICO 
The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger


Newark Liberty International Airport's cramped Terminal B, which handles
dozens of daily international flights, will undergo a $280 million expansion
as part of a five-year construction project the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey is expected to approve today. 

The work, officials said, will improve both the physical configuration and
security of the terminal, which is used by numerous overseas carriers,
including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Air France, as well as
domestic carriers such as Delta and Northwest. 
   
Ticketing areas will be enlarged and new ones built, though no new gates
will be added, one official said. A third level will be added below ground
-- in what was once a parking garage -- to increase concourse space. 

When completed, the revamped Terminal B will mirror Terminal C with the
upper level handling international travel, the middle level handling
domestic departures and the new lower level reserved for domestic arrivals,
Port Authority officials said. 

More security checkpoint areas will be created to help alleviate passenger
bottlenecks during peak travel periods. Additionally, for the first time,
the Port Authority plans to integrate explosive detection machines with a
conveyer-belt system to process checked luggage faster. 

Newark Airport's federal security screeners must now load each piece of
checked baggage by hand onto the machines -- a labor-intensive and
time-consuming process. 

The Port Authority, the bistate agency that operates the airport, will be
able to apply for reimbursement of up to 75 percent of the in-line baggage
system's costs from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The
Port Authority has balked about paying for any of the system; officials have
said all costs should be borne by the federal government. 

"It's great for the airport, great for the region," acting Gov. Richard
Codey of the expansion. "There are certain security issues this helps. We
need the room, simple as that. ...There's no question that air traffic is up
significantly." 

Newark Airport handled 29.4 million passengers in 2003. Though that number
has risen this year, it is still below the peak of 34.2 million passengers
in 2000. Even so, Port Authority officials are projecting significant growth
between now and 2021 when 45 million passengers are expected to use the
three terminals. 

Between 60 and 65 international flights use Terminal B on an average day,
compared with the 80 to 120 international flights operated out of Terminal C
by Continental Airlines, which is by far airport's biggest single carrier. 

Some 10,000 fliers depart from Terminal B each day, with another 10,000
leaving from Terminal A and 20,000 from Terminal C. 

Terminal A had been slated for an expansion, but that project has been on
hold following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the subsequent economic downturn
and the overall slump in the airline industry. Officials said they decided
to proceed with the Terminal B project because the need for expansion there
is greater. 

"I would say anyplace at Newark could use an expansion," said Keith Herman,
37, of Roxbury, a self-employed computer analyst who uses the airport once
or twice a month. "It's terrible to fly in and out of Newark." 

Herman, who said he mostly uses Terminals C and A, offered a suggestion to
the Port Authority's engineers if they're going to design Terminal B like
the sprawling Terminal C: Install more automatic people-movers. 

"It's an unreasonable distance to walk if you have one of those gates on the
end," Herman said of Terminal C's configuration. "Somehow, design (Terminal
B) so the distance between gates is less or make it easier to get to the
gates." 

The newly expanded terminal is expected to create about 700 permanent jobs,
according to Port Authority projections. 

"It's a great project because it builds facilities to meet what we know is
an existing need," Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia said. "Newark
Airport is not a regional airport. It's an international airport. ... We
think it's going to attract other carriers." 

Coscia said Codey, who became acting governor last month, has advocated the
expansion of Terminal B. 

"Early in my discussions with Governor Codey, he made it clear Newark
Airport and its continued growth should be a priority," Coscia said. A "part
of achieving that priority should be achievements that enhance the security
of that airport."


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************