Passenger perks the buzz of proposed international terminal
Those are two big changes globetrotting travelers will see by 2011 when Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport opens its new international terminal, a soaring glass wing of a building that will cost more than a billion dollars.
The Transportation Committee of the Atlanta City Council on Wednesday tentatively approved about $1.2 billion for construction of the long-anticipated terminal, which has been discussed since the late 1990s. Roadways, underground trains and other costs will push the cost to about $1.6 billion %26mdash; twice the original estimate %26mdash; by the time the terminal opens its 12 new gates in about three years.
Transportation Committee members, who oversee the world’s busiest airport, got their first glimpse at new plans for the terminal Wednesday morning.
Fliers will approach the Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal %26mdash; named for Atlanta’s late mayor %26mdash; from Interstate 75. And because there is curbside pick-up, arriving international travelers will not have to recheck their bags as they now do.
The current international gate complex, built for the 1996 Olympics, is located on Concourse E, which can only be accessed through the distant main airport terminal off Interstate 85. Arriving international travelers currently have to recheck their bags once they clear U.S. Customs and retrieve them after a train ride or long hike to the main terminal. The baggage recheck system is often cited in surveys as a major complaint by the 86 million people a year who use Hartsfield-Jackson.
The new terminal will have its own gates and parking deck, and will be accessed via I-75. It will be connected to the main terminal through an underground train that connects the new facility and Concourse E, whose gates will be used primarily for domestic flights.
Located near the control tower, the new facility will encompass 1.2 million square feet. Its soaring glass walls with a view of the Atlanta skyline are intended to make a bold statement to arriving passengers.
The design is by Atlanta Gateway Designers, which the city hired after firing the first firm, Leo A Daly, in 2005. At the time the city cited costs and delays. Daly sued the city for damages, and the litigation is still pending.
The new terminal coincides with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ push to vastly increase its international business, the most profitable arena for the financially strapped airlines. Delta accounts for more than 70 percent of the airport’s business, and has increased its international destinations from Hartsfield-Jackson five fold since 1996. It now serves 81 offshore destinations.
Delta has been a key supporter of the new terminal, but objects to an increase in the construction contingency fund contained in the current proposal. The contingency was $58 million, but has been increased to $168 million .
“The terminal is an important part of our international growth strategy and we are in support of the project and its budget which was approved last year,” said Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott. “Delta does not support the latest proposal calling for a $110 million increase to the contingency fund. This project needs to be managed in a cost effective manner and having an inflated contingency fund does not accomplish that goal.”
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