Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is seeking approval to spend another $1.5 million on a gate on Concourse F for the superjumbo Airbus A380 jet.
The airport originally spent $30 million for runway and taxiway widening and modifications on Concourse E for the huge jet before Korean Air launched the first A380 flights to Atlanta in 2013.
Then, Hartsfield-Jackson spent $13.78 million to modify a gate on the newer Concourse F to accommodate the A380.
Korean Air eventually stopped flying the A380 to Atlanta. The superjumbo jet isn’t currently flying regularly to Hartsfield-Jackson, according to airport general manager Roosevelt Council.
But the airport is seeking Atlanta City Council approval for an additional expenditure of $1.5 million paid to a New South-Synergy joint venture for the installation of new fiber optic cables for security cameras inside the entry point for the gate entry area, as well as cables for the ticket counter.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection “has actually come to us with additional security requirements,” Council said. “We had to create a whole different walkway” to the Customs checkpoint, he said, in order to secure the path of passengers who have not yet cleared Customs.
Hartsfield-Jackson said the cost also increased because it had to extend the construction schedule by a year for the extra work, other changes and “unforeseen field conditions.”
The city council’s finance committee voted in favor of the additional funding Wednesday, and it next goes to the full council for approval.
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