Washington, Mar 28: More than three dozen U.S. commercial airports will be unable to handle their air traffic by 2020 unless they are expanded, the Federal Aviation Administration says.
The FAA studied population growth, travel and income trends to determine airports` future needs. At least 43 airports will need to add capacity, some more than once, in the next 15 years. Some will need it even sooner, the agency found. San Antonio; Palm Beach, Florida; and Tucson, Arizona, are among the cities that will reach maximum capacity by 2013, when the number of air travelers is projected to have grown by about 50 percent, to 982 million.
Expanding airports isn`t easy, especially in cities where they are located near dense neighborhoods.Boston`s Logan International Airport spent more than 30 years trying to overcome community opposition to a new runway. The airport authority has surmounted most legal obstacles, but it hasn`t started pouring concrete yet.
Similarly, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport proposed a new runway in 1987. Opposition led to delay in the project`s scheduled completion to 2008 from
The study by FAA and its research center, run by The MITRE Corp., reviewed 300 airports in 300 metropolitan areas. Projections of air traffic growth were based on where people are likely to live, work and vacation. The report took into account such factors as the increasing popularity of leisure travel and the growth of low-cost carriers.
Airports have to move both passengers and planes, so capacity can be increased by building a new terminal or a new runway. Redesigning airspace or changing air traffic control procedures also can help an airport accommodate more planes.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said on Thursday, though, that constructing new runways is the best way to increase the system`s capacity. "Staying the course in new runway construction was never a question," Blakey said.
Last year, four new runways were opened in Houston, Orlando, Miami and Denver, helping to increase the overall system capacity by 4 percent, Blakey said.
Bureau Report
