DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/27/08
You'll get there from a different interstate, and you won't have to recheck your baggage.
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 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport | |||||
| The proposed new terminal will feature 12 gates and access from I-75. | |||||
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Those are two big changes globetrotting travelers will see by 2011 when Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport opens its new international terminal, a soaring glass wing of a building that will cost more than a billion dollars.
The Transportation Committee of the Atlanta City Council on Wednesday tentatively approved about $1.2 billion for construction of the long-anticipated terminal, which has been discussed since the late 1990s. Roadways, underground trains and other costs will push the cost to about $1.6 billion — twice the original estimate — by the time the terminal opens its 12 new gates in about three years.
Transportation Committee members, who oversee the world's busiest airport, got their first glimpse at new plans for the terminal Wednesday morning.
Fliers will approach the Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal — named for Atlanta's late mayor — from Interstate 75. And because there is curbside pick-up, arriving international travelers will not have to recheck their bags as they now do.
The current international gate complex, built for the 1996 Olympics, is located on Concourse E, which can only be accessed through the distant main airport terminal off Interstate 85. Arriving international travelers currently have to recheck their bags once they clear U.S. Customs and retrieve them after a train ride or long hike to the main terminal. The baggage recheck system is often cited in surveys as a major complaint by the 86 million people a year who use Hartsfield-Jackson.
The new terminal will have its own gates and parking deck, and will be accessed via I-75. It will be connected to the main terminal through an underground train that connects the new facility and Concourse E, whose gates will be used primarily for domestic flights.
Located near the control tower, the new facility will encompass 1.2 million square feet. Its soaring glass walls with a view of the Atlanta skyline are intended to make a bold statement to arriving passengers.
The design is by Atlanta Gateway Designers, which the city hired after firing the first firm, Leo A Daly, in 2005. At the time the city cited costs and delays. Daly sued the city for damages, and the litigation is still pending.
The new terminal coincides with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines' push to vastly increase its international business, the most profitable arena for the financially strapped airlines. Delta accounts for more than 70 percent of the airport's business, and has increased its international destinations from Hartsfield-Jackson five fold since 1996. It now serves 81 offshore destinations.
Delta has been a key supporter of the new terminal, but objects to an increase in the construction contingency fund contained in the current proposal. The contingency was $58 million, but has been increased to $168 million .
"The terminal is an important part of our international growth strategy and we are in support of the project and its budget which was approved last year," said Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott. "Delta does not support the latest proposal calling for a $110 million increase to the contingency fund. This project needs to be managed in a cost effective manner and having an inflated contingency fund does not accomplish that goal."
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Comments
By FIELD_NICKNAME_rolraccct
Dec 23, 2008 6:16 PM | Link to this
http://www.FIELD_MESSAGE_oucnacdo.com/
By georg
Apr 1, 2008 12:54 PM | Link to this
To say the least it's taking Atlanta thirty some years to open a International terminal what a joke,and this a worldport. We are the laughing stock to the world and theses comments I' get everytime we have visitors from Europe. Why has it taking this long to build what we needed a long time ago but with corrupt politics and city officials no surprise, Atlanta should be ashame that it has taken this long.
By What!!
Mar 23, 2008 8:42 PM | Link to this
Instead of "Maynard Holbrook Jackson Junior international Terminal" How about "Concourse F".
By Fed Up
Mar 23, 2008 8:36 PM | Link to this
What else can be said. The name is stupid and the I-75 entrance dosen't make any sense at all.
By zeke
Mar 23, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
HOW ABOUT SOME PERKS FOR DOMESTIC TRAVELERS!!!!!!!
With the naming of the terminal for jackson, can we remove the name from the airport and simply go back to hartsfield? PLEASE!
By Elizabeth Waugh-Bryant
Mar 13, 2008 1:26 AM | Link to this
Re: "If the international terminal (part 2) is accessible on the east side of the airport from (I-75) how will international arrivals access all the car rental shuttles, Camp Creek Parkway parking lot shuttles, buses to Columbus and Macon, etc, etc. These facilities are all on the west side of the airport by the current check in/baggage terminal. Are international arrivals expected to all drive their cars to the new int'l terminal and park their cars in the new parking lots? I'm going to bet that the int'l arrivals are going to have to recheck their bags and take the airport train back to the "old" main terminal. Unless off course the airport authorities want to spend a lot more money on a redundant facility for all the various shuttle parking facilities."
I would not only like to know that, but what about MARTA and CTran? Also, will this new terminal have two levels, one for Baggage Claim and one for Ticketing/Check In? It better, because the existing terminal only has one floor, which was a grave mistake made by planners, especially for Atlanta.
By Nick
Mar 7, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this
If the international terminal (part 2) is accessible on the east side of the airport from (I-75) how will international arrivals access all the car rental shuttles, Camp Creek Parkway parking lot shuttles, buses to Columbus and Macon, etc, etc. These facilities are all on the west side of the airport by the current check in/baggage terminal. Are international arrivals expected to all drive their cars to the new int'l terminal and park their cars in the new parking lots? I'm going to bet that the int'l arrivals are going to have to recheck their bags and take the airport train back to the "old" main terminal. Unless off course the airport authorities want to spend a lot more money on a redundant facility for all the various shuttle parking facilities.
By Nick
Mar 7, 2008 3:19 PM | Link to this
If the international terminal (part 2) is accessible on the east side of the airport from (I-75) how will international arrivals access all the car rental shuttles, Camp Creek Parkway parking lot shuttles, buses to Columbus and Macon, etc, etc. These facilities are all on the west side of the airport by the current check in/baggage terminal. Are international arrivals expected to all drive their cars to the new int'l terminal and park their cars in the new parking lots? I'm going to bet that the int'l arrivals are going to have to recheck their bags and take the airport train back to the "old" main terminal. Unless off course the airport authorities want to spend a lot more money on a redundant facility for all the various shuttle parking facilities.
By Fred
Mar 3, 2008 5:32 PM | Link to this
Is the name a JOKE?
By Tamika
Mar 3, 2008 3:31 PM | Link to this
This is a S H I T H E A D idea!!!!
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