Manchester Airport to expand

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Manchester Airport, which expects a 65 percent increase in business in five years, plans a major expansion.

The two-phase, $122 million plan includes two additions to the airport terminal and a new parking garage.

The expansion will help make Manchester “the premier airport serving northern New England,” airport director Kevin Dillon said.

Jeff Schultes, manager of Portland International Jetport, said the expansion plan comes as no surprise and he does not view it as a threat that would drain business from Maine.

“They have a totally different market than we have,” said Schultes, asserting that Manchester’s growth has been fueled by burgeoning demand from within the Boston area.

Noting that Portland has set records for passenger traffic in September and October, Schultes suggested that Mainers who travel to Manchester would otherwise have flown out of Boston.

The first phase of Manchester’s expansion calls for up to four new gates and more baggage space to be completed in 2002.

The second phase would create four more gates and be finished by 2005. Both additions would be on the terminal’s north side by the Southwest Airlines gates.

Airport officials were scheduled to make a presentation on the plans Tuesday afternoon at City Hall. Aldermen are to consider the project on Dec. 5.

The airport draws passengers from Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and beyond because of its competitive fares, easy access and cheap parking.

This year, more than 3 million passengers are expected to use the airport. In 2005, the forecast is for more than 5 million passengers, an increase of more than 65 percent.

The second parking garage, which would cost $50 million, would be similar in size to the existing one, which has 4,000 public spaces and 800 for rental cars.

Construction costs are expected to total about $98 million, including $6 million from federal grants. The expansion is part of the airport’s master plan.

The plans include $5.3 million to buy property, including 19 homes along Brown Avenue, part of the main access route to the airport. The homes would be demolished to expand Brown Avenue.

Affected homeowners already have been notified.

Another $20 million would go for road and parking improvements, including $7.5 million to tie an airport road into the proposed state airport access road.

Officials hope architects can start designing the first terminal expansion in January. They would decide in the spring how many gates to add, which hinges in part on the fate of a proposed merger between United Airlines and US Airways.

Since building a new terminal in the 1990s, the airport has spent or committed $320 million to expand, including $65 million for runway improvements.

The airport has 10 jet bridge gates and five commuter gates.

The expansion would add about 100,000 square feet of terminal and other space to the existing 228,000 square feet.

A terminal expansion completed last year added three jet bridge gates, ticket counter space and a commuter terminal, amounting to about 78,000 square feet.