The New Orleans Aviation Board gave a resounding endorsement Wednesday of an $826 million plan championed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu to overhaul Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The proposal would put an entirely new terminal on the north side of the east-west runway, and would demolish the oldest parts of the existing terminal as the board searches for...
The New Orleans Aviation Board gave a resounding endorsement Wednesday of an $826 million plan championed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu to overhaul Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The proposal would put an entirely new terminal on the north side of the east-west runway, and would demolish the oldest parts of the existing terminal as the board searches for another way to use what will be left.
The board voted unanimously to recommend that proposal, choosing it from four options that a team of hired consultants spent 20 months examining. The next step will be a full design of the project and reviews by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Landrieu has said he wants the new terminal in time for the city's 300th anniversary in 2018, a five-year timetable that city officials and board members have called "aggressive" but also considered possible.
"The mayor has believed this from the get-go, but it became very apparent to us, as we went through this process, that the best way to go is with the north option," Aviation Board member Roger Ogden said.
The mission of the redesign is to reduce operating costs as much as increase flights, Aviation Director Iftikhar Ahmad said. It costs an airline in fees and overhead about $8.49 a passenger to use New Orleans International. That's down from $10.20 a passenger in 2009, but Ahmad argued that to keep it less expensive, the airport must replace its aging infrastructure.
The north side site is currently a vacant field of about 42 acres that Ahmad said could accommodate the proposed $650 million 30-gate, three-concourse terminal with opportunity to add another 30 gates in future phases, should the airport need the extra space. It will also include a 3,000-space parking garage, a $17 million privately financed hotel, a $72 million state-financed power station and an $87 million ramp on I-10 to direct eastbound traffic to the new terminal.
The price tag for the terminal also includes demolishing three of the existing terminals. Board member Doug Thornton also assured that repurposed terminal and a $92 million rental car facility built in anticipation of the Super Bowl last February would be incorporated into the new layout.
"All of that is going to be reused in a different way in the new environments," he said.
Board members said the airport would pay for the project by borrowing against its future revenue, as well as state and federal grants.
None of the plans call for city tax dollars to be used. Like the $305 million Super Bowl renovation, the airport will borrow the money it needs against its future revenue. New Orleans Airport generates about $107 million a year through concession sales, rents, leases, fees and other operations. It also charges passengers $4.50 each to use its facility, a standard rate that brings in another $20 million a year.
Additional financing could come from the FAA's Airport Improvement Program, as long as the final proposal meets the program's guidelines.
Although the city-owned airport is making money, federal law bans it from using that extra revenue to allay the city's budget woes, Ahmad said. And any future borrowing will certainly add to the airport's $141 million debt from past projects, though Ahmad said that sum should be paid off by 2023.
Despite its grandeur on paper, the $650 million plan would actually shrink the airport: the new terminal would be little more than half the size of the existing 1.2 million square-foot facility. Its price tag also includes demolishing much of the existing airport terminal and possibly privatizing concourse D, which was renovated last year. The plan also looks to better connect the airport to railroads and the Port of New Orleans, he said.
The other options explored by consultants include:
- Refurbishing the existing 54-year-old terminal for about $472 million. This option would require the terminal to remain in use during construction and offers no guarantee it will keep operating costs down afterward.
- Demolishing concourses A, B and C and building two new concourses on the existing footprint for about $641 million. Again, parts of the terminal would have to stay in operation while construction was underway.
- Build a new, three-concourse terminal west of the existing facility for about $538 million. Because it's a new, separate building, there would be less restraint on design improvements. Nonetheless, consultants estimated that such changes could push the price up to $723 million. It would also require relocating some cargo operations currently using its proposed site.