Improvements at Bangor International Airport recommended by a consultant include the expansion of the domestic and international terminals, and the construction of a new runway.

A draft of the Bangor International Airport Master Plan recently was completed by Hoyle, Tanner and Associates Inc. who reviewed it Thursday afternoon with local officials.

The plan forecasts what will happen over the next 20 years at BIA. If city officials adopt all the recommendations, it would cost $104 million over the next 20 years.

“It’s just about what I expected,” Airport Director Peter D’Errico said. “It shows steady and continuous growth. Demand will dictate the timing of the projects. Our No. 1 priority has to be the terminal expansions.”

The greatest need is to expand the commuter terminal, said Richard Dyment, senior aviation planner with Hoyle, Tanner. Adding to the waiting area on the first floor of the terminal and increasing the space available for luggage pickup should be done first, he said.

The cost of the first phase of the project is estimated at $2.4 million. All told, the consultant recommended a 42,000-square-foot expansion of the domestic terminal at a cost of $5.6 million.

Additionally, Dyment said if the amount of international charter traffic through BIA continues to increase, the international terminal will need to be expanded. The entire project, as proposed, would cost about $11 million.

According to a projection prepared by Hoyle, Tanner, the $100 million cost of completing all the projects contained in the master plan would be split four ways. The Federal Aviation Administration would contribute $50 million, the private sector $31 million, the city $22 million, and the state $1 million.

“This whole planning process is really designed to protect one of the finest assets the city has, to protect it and foster its growth,” said Richard Ludders, project manager for Hoyle, Tanner.

The asset is old. The airport’s single runway was built in 1956 and, according to engineers, will need major work that could shut down operations.

Logically, the airport should have a second runway, the consultants said.

“Something should be done to separate the small guys from the big guys,” Dyment said, referring to the separation of the Cessnas and the 747s.

The consultants recommended building a second runway parallel to the existing runway, which is 300 feet wide, and 11,000 feet long. The new runway would be 150 feet wide and built in two stages. The first would be 4,900 feet long and cost $8.4 million. The second would add 4,100 feet and cost $11.4 million, for a 9,000 foot runway costing more than $20 million.