$27 million build-out with 6 new gates is key tide-over before moving terminal
New Orleans' airport unveiled the expansion to Concourse D on Thursday. While it may not make Louis Armstrong International "world-class," it's a key step in making it presentable during an 18-month stretch of major events culminating with hosting Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu and other regional and airport leaders hailed the $27 million octagonal pod, which features six new gates, a glass pyramid-shaped central skylight and a crisp, airy aesthetic, as an important first step toward the real goal of starting fresh with a passenger terminal on the opposite side of the airport, along Veteran's Boulevard, in time for New Orleans' tercentennial in May 2018.
"This isn't going to make us a world-class airport, but it's something you can be proud of," said aviation board director Iftikhar Ahmad. "Then, the north side is where we're going to teach the world what it's all about."
But moving the passenger terminal to the north side and using the south side, near Airline Drive and the freight rail line, is not a sure thing. Another possibility is to expand the current terminal west and eventually replace the outdated Concourses A and B on the east end.
The problem, board chairman Nolan Rollins said, is that as they've made renovations and changes recently, they've found major structural problems with the current building. And then there's the low-slung baggage claim area.
"We're going to upgrade the baggage claim area, but it's still going to look like a cave because that's just the way it was built," Rollins said.
Landrieu has called on the New Orleans Aviation Board to study the issue aggressively and make a decision soon.
In the meantime, the current airport structure will have to do, at least through major events like college football's BCS National Championship Game in January, the NCAA Final Four basketball championship and the 2013 Super Bowl.
So, the Concourse D expansion unveiled Thursday, and ongoing upgrades to the facade, flight information monitors and bathrooms are part of a $300 million capital improvement project. And the airport has been adding new nonstop flights, including international service to Toronto on Air Canada and to Havana, Cuba, on charters. Ahmad said a new international destination will be announced soon.
Earlier, the capital improvement project was supposed to include consolidating the airport's security checkpoint and putting all service in Concourses C and D. But while other airports have seen only 2-percent growth in passenger use, travel through Louis Armstrong is up more than 6 percent, so the aviation board was forced to scrap plans to reduce the number of gates.
In fact, Rollins said they may have to reopen gates in Concourse A soon, rather than turn that into new airport offices.
Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni said he's excited about the possibility of moving the main terminal to the north side of the airport by 2018 because that would dovetail with his city's plans to revitalize that section of Veteran's Boulevard. He said he's confident it can happen because of Landrieu's involvement.
"I've never seen a mayor as engaged in the airport as Mitch is," he said.