NEWS
Aviation

107-98: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , July 30, 1998

PORT AUTHORITY APPROVES $100 MILLION RENOVATION OF NEWARK AIRPORT'S TERMINAL A


The Port Authority Board of Commissioners today approved a $100 million improvement package for Newark International Airport's Terminal A. The project will expand ticket counter space by 25 percent, provide new seats and lighting, and speed baggage handling for the more than seven million passengers who use the terminal each year.

"The Port Authority and the airlines are working together to create a brighter, more attractive and more efficient passenger terminal for our customers," said Port Authority Chairman Lewis M. Eisenberg. "These physical improvements will go hand in hand with service improvements already implemented, such as deploying hundreds of customer service representatives, and offering valet parking, free assistance with car problems and free luggage carts for arriving international passengers."

Chairman Eisenberg said the Port Authority will invest $60 million of its own capital funds to install a new conveyor system for outbound baggage and build new baggage processing rooms and ticket counters, allowing more efficient processing of passengers and their luggage. The bistate agency also will purchase new loading bridges, and make other improvements.

The Chairman said several airlines will provide the balance of the funding, which will be used for improvements to the aircraft gate areas and to the corridors that lead from the main part of the terminal to the gate areas. As part of their renovation work, Continental Airlines and Air Canada both will construct new lounges for their first-class and business-class passengers. United Airlines, TWA and US Airways also will refurbish their leased areas, and US Airways will renovate its first-class and business-class lounge.

Chairman Eisenberg said the work is expected to begin immediately and take less than two years to complete.

Terminal A accommodated 7,316,194 air passengers last year, or 24 percent of the airport's total volume of 30,915,820 passengers.

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