JFK Initiates Construction Of International Terminal
<B> JFK Initiates Construction Of International Terminal</B>
By Frank Rosci
When New York JFK's Terminal 4 opens in the fall of 2001, the international facility will be among the nation's most up-to-date airport arrival and departure buildings, according to officials.
With hundreds of airline and tourism officials and executives looking on, New York Governor George Pataki flipped a switch to activate robotic jackhammers at a fall groundbreaking ceremony for the $1.2 billion terminal.
Terminal 4 will be Kennedy Airport's largest terminal--1.5-million square feet--and the first in the nation to be developed by a private sector consortium. The group, called JFK International Air Terminal, is comprised of airport operator Schiphol USA, real estate developer LCOR Inc. and investment banking firm Lehman Brothers, which specializing in underwriting securities for airport improvement projects.
JFK IAT last year signed an agreement to lease the 165-acre site--including the existing international arrivals building, which opened in 1957 to accommodate propeller-driven aircraft--from the Port Authority for 25 years starting upon completion of construction.
"In keeping with my emphasis on privatization, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has married the skills of top American developers and financial experts with those of an airport operator selected after a worldwide search, in what is perhaps the most ambitious airport privatization effort ever undertaken in America," Pataki said.
Schiphol USA, the American affiliate of the company that operates Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam--which ranks consistently near the top of satisfaction surveys of airline passengers and airlines--will operate the new terminal.
"This effort involves more than transforming Terminal 4 into a modern, efficient and comfortable air terminal," said Hans Mohrmann, president of Schiphol USA and a member of the JFK IAT executive committee. "The new Terminal 4 will set a standard for the development and operation of air travel facilities in North America."
The facility will feature centralized checkin, departure and arrival areas, and a 100,000- square-foot retail concourse that will resemble some of the finest shopping avenues in New York City. The terminal also will be a source of jobs and tax revenue, noted Charles Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corp. and vice chairman of the Port Authority.
Designed as a 24-hour facility, the new terminal's 16 gates and 56 federal inspection stations will be capable of processing up to 3,200 arriving passengers per hour.
In addition, departing passengers will be guided by increased signage to one of 108 checkin counters in a new common use area.
As for business traveler productivity, PC hook-ups will be available in airline clubs, with future plans calling for telecommunications tools in the public areas, said Hank Guitjens, vice president, airport marketing.
The terminal also will be equipped to accommodate future expansion to as many as 36 gates plus additional checkin counters, baggage carousels and federal inspection stations without significant construction or operational disruptions.
Construction of the terminal is one of the cornerstones of the $4.4-billion redevelopment of the airport. Under the Port Authority's direction, virtually every terminal at JFK is being rebuilt or modernized and expanded.
Work on the new terminal will proceed in stages over the next 47 months, allowing current operations to continue until the new facility is open for business in the middle of the year.
The entire construction effort, which will generate about 3,000 jobs for the life of the project and include demolition of the existing structure, will be completed in late 2001.
Another element of the plan is a light rail system, being built to speed travelers from terminal to terminal and to link the airport to the metropolitan area's mass transit systems.
"A light rail system will provide fast, easy access to the airport, eliminating a chief complaint of travelers," according to Robert Boyle, executive director of the Port Authority, adding that 32 miles of new and improved roadways to and from the airport already are helping to reduce traffic delays.