New Gateway Airport airline may spur terminal construction
2 comments by Gary Nelson - Dec. 8, 2011 11:54 AM
The Republic | azcentral.com
This week's announcement of a second carrier serving Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport may hasten construction of an east-side terminal.
For now, airport officials say the airport has enough gates to accommodate the three daily departures and arrivals to be added by Spirit Airlines in addition to the rapidly expanding flight list of Allegiant Air.
Spirit will operate two round trips per day to Las Vegas beginning Feb. 9, and one to Dallas continuing to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., beginning March 22.
Spirit's arrival was announced Tuesday by actors in the production of "A Christmas Carol" at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre.
Michael Pewther, senior sales director for Spirit, appeared in the skit as "spirit of airline future" to tell Ebenezer Scrooge that he had arrived in Arizona to help passengers save money.
Scrooge liked that.
So did the government and business officials who gathered in Gateway's passenger terminal to hear the news that the airport has been awaiting since Allegiant became its sole carrier three years ago.
"The gateway to the world has truly opened right through here," Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said, a reference to the numerous connections that can be made to other Spirit flights from its Mesa service.
Spirit, based in the Fort Lauderdale area, is establishing only a small beachhead in Mesa for the moment.
That also was the case when Allegiant began flying from Gateway in 2007. Allegiant has steadily expanded its destination list to 34 from 13, recently adding Las Vegas and the Bay Area.
Gateway now has six gates. A federally funded $9.75 million expansion will add two more just north of the present terminal by autumn. Another $6.1 million from Washington will add gates 9 and 10 by late 2013.
John Barry, Gateway's marketing manager, said it's conceivable that space could open south of the terminal for two more gates, bringing the total to 12.
But that's it for the airport's west-side frontage along Sossaman Road.
Airport spokesman Brian Sexton said plans call for the east-side terminal along Ellsworth Road to open in 2017.
"There are so many variables that come into play in determining that," Sexton said. "It's too early to say what impact Spirit will have on moving to the east side."
But, he said, no pun intended, "When the airlines start taking off, we're going to have to quickly accelerate those plans."
Scot Rigby, Mesa's lead development official for the Gateway area, also said the timetable is in flux.
Spirit's arrival, he said, "will force us to look at the timing for the east side."
It helps, Rigby said, that Gateway doesn't assign airlines to specific gates. That creates greater flexibility in scheduling flights.
Barry and Sexton said moving to the eastern side would cost about $300 million.
That includes not just the cost of the terminal, which Mesa Councilman Scott Somers said should reflect the same low-key and efficient model as the current buildings, but the cost of bringing aircraft to the terminal's door, building aprons and taxiways.
"The exciting part is that the FAA has embraced the role of Gateway Airport as an alternative to Sky Harbor," Sexton said, referring to Phoenix's international airport. "We have their attention. If the demand is there they recognize it. We anticipate the federal government stepping into that role and funding the lion's share of the cost."
He noted, however, that even a generous federal outlay would leave Valley agencies with a substantial tab.
Mesa, meanwhile, has been laying out cash to pave the way.
The city recently completed a $9.4 million project extending Ray Road from Sossaman to Ellsworth and adding a half-mile of Hawes Road connecting with Loop 202.
The work included water and sewerlines intended to serve the airport in the future.
The city also issued bonds to speed construction of the Gateway Freeway, also known as Arizona 24, from Loop 202 to Ellsworth. Construction begins in early 2012.
The Gateway Freeway would greatly improve access to the airport's eastern side.
With the potential for as many as 50 gates, the east-side terminal would mark the arrival of the former Air Force base as the Valley's only true reliever airport of Sky Harbor.
Regardless of what happens in the next few years, Rigby said the airport must stay focused on making its west-side terminal as efficient as possible.
"You can't get to the east side if you don't succeed on the west side," he said.
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