Airport Expansion Positions Wichita For Further Air-Traffic Growth
Published Aug 18, 2009
Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
Airplanes and Wichita go hand-in-hand, and after more than a decade of planning, the city will soon have an airport terminal that is a suitable backdrop for its cutting-edge aviation industry.
The new facility, set to come online in 2012, can’t happen fast enough for Wichita Mid-Continent Airport’s administrators, who are making do in their current 50-year-old facility. Preliminary work, including the pouring of new concrete aprons and other preconstruction efforts, is under way at the site next door, and officials are not only planning the new facility’s configuration but also how to keep elements of the current one operational.
“Where we are now will cease to exist the day the new one opens up, and we’re looking forward to that,” says Victor White, executive director of airports for the Wichita Airport Authority. “We’ll be tearing down most of this facility, but we’ll keep part of the existing baggage claim area and convert it to an international arrival hall for customs and inspections, and also create office space for the Department of Homeland Security.”
At completion, the 240,000-square-foot terminal and associated construction on it and the existing site will total around $160 million. Funding comes through Federal Aviation Administration grants, the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies for everything from engineering and design to new explosive-detection security equipment. Throughout the process, the goal has been to give Wichita the best and most advanced terminal possible, but also to create one that, like its predecessor, can see a half-century or more of use.
“We didn’t design the new one to be bigger, but to be more efficient,” explains White, noting that the new building will add the breathing room that the current facility lacks. “But it also is designed to be expanded if our traffic demands grow to the point where we need more space.”
The new terminal will have 12 gates with loading bridges, with each gate expandable to two bridges. The facility will feature three baggage claim areas at opening, with a fourth already built and ready to come online when needed. More than twice the current space will be available for lines at the ticket counters, as well as room for kiosks that allow Internet check-in and more.
Even before its arrival, the terminal is already exceeding expectations, White says, reinforcing just how much it’s been needed. And because the project is self-funded, taxpayers get the benefit of an updated amenity without taking a financial hit.
“The airport is 100 percent self sufficient, and we are a separate agency,” White says. “This is why we’ve been doing the project through FAA grants and money that comes from the federal Aviation Trust Fund. That lets us go forward even in a down economy, so we’re taking advantage of getting lower bids because there’s a lot of competition between contractors. We are really in a sweet spot to do this right now.”
The Wichita Airport Authority also operates Col. James Jabara Airport, a general aviation reliever airport primarily serving single-engine and multi-engine small aircraft and has a full-service fixed base operator providing fuel, oil, hangars and parking. Jabara Airport is the future home of the National Center for Aviation Training.
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Antony Boshier
Current Weather Conditions In Wichita, KS (67202)
Cloudy, and 39 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
