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news
LB gets airport
money
By Tina Dhamija
On-line Forty-Niner
The city of Long
Beach received over $6 million on Tuesday, when the Federal
Aviation Administration granted the city funding for an airport
renovation project that is expected to bring in up to 8 million
more fliers by the end of next year, said city council aid
Tim Patton.
Finalized at last
week's city council meeting, the new four-part renovation
project is actually an enhancement of the Long Beach Airport,
rather than an expansion of it.
"The FAA has
given us over $6 million for improving what's already there,"
Long Beach City Councilman Jackie Kell said. "Therefore,
it's [the renovation project] not an expansion of the airport
in any way."
An essential part
of the entire airport upgrade is the addition of a new airline
to the Long Beach Airport, Jet Blue airlines, said Kell. The
new airline, set to launch its first flight out of Long Beach
on Wednesday, will be bringing in the option of 27 more flights
to choose from at the airport.
"Almost as
a compliment to the renovation work is the addition of Jet
Blue," Patton said. "Passengers are going to see
a wider selection of flights going out of Long Beach to cities
like New York and Washington D.C."
With the addition
of Jet Blue to the airport, Long Beach will see an increase
of at least two more flights to New York per day as well as
an increase in passenger numbers. The increase, Patton said,
could mean up to 8 million more people each year.
Broken into four
areas of concentration, the renovation will include inside
airport security upgrading, re-paving of runways and construction
of new passenger and flight facilities at the airport. The
first part of the plan will be the re-paving of runway 1230;
Long Beach Airport's largest runway. The second area of the
plan is the upgrading of airport security systems. Under this
provision, the number of X-ray machines will be doubled in
order to provide passengers with shorter security lines, Patton
said.
Also to double
in quantity at the airport, is the size of the passenger 'holding
room,' where passengers wait to board their flights. This
renovation falls under the third part of the plan and was
included, Patton said, "as a way to further provide for
fliers."
The fourth and
final component to the plan is the design and construction
of a new taxiway, Juliet 2. Not to be used as an actual runway,
Juliet 2 will be a surface for the airport's smaller planes
to reach the runways of the airport, Patton said.
"I'm pleased
that they're trying to do more with the airport," said
Long Beach resident Gabrielle DiSessa. "I have family
coming into town all year long and it would be kind of nice
for once to say: 'Bye! I'm going to pick-up uncle so-and-so
at the airport, be back in five minutes!'"
Although some may
wonder why the city did not opt to expand the airport, expansion,
Patton assures, is not possible at the Long Beach Airport.
"I don't see
any expansion plans because there's nowhere more for the airport
to go," he said. "All we can do now is enhance it."
The complete sum
given to the city of Long Beach by the FAA to enhance the
city airport is recorded on the Aug.21 city council agenda
to be $6,150,820. That entire sum, Kell assures, will spent
on the renovation program. "This money cannot be spent
at any other place than the airport," she said.
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