John Wayne Airport continues expansion project despite dismal state of airline industry
The Orange County airport is undertaking a $652-million project that includes a new passenger terminal and a parking structure with at least 2,000 spaces. Not everyone, however, is on board.
Airports across the country are shelving or downsizing planned expansions because of a sharp drop in passengers, yet John Wayne Airport in Orange County is proceeding with a $652-million terminal project -- its first major improvement since 1990.
John Wayne officials say the project will meet future demands for air travel and maintain the airport's position as an attractive alternative to the much larger Los Angeles International Airport, which handled more than 61 million travelers last year.
Plans call for a third passenger terminal that would increase the gates for commercial aircraft from 14 to 20 and help the airport accommodate up to 10.8 million passengers a year -- the ceiling set by an earlier court settlement with residents of neighboring cities.
Airport officials say the proposal includes a parking structure with at least 2,000 spaces, renovation of the two existing terminals and a marketplace with restaurants and shopping. The county-owned airport also plans to resurface the runway, add more parking for commercial aircraft and build permanent facilities for commuter air services, which now have seven gates in temporary modular buildings.
Space will also be added for a federal customs and immigration facility to process passengers from international carriers that airport officials hope to attract in the future.
"We've sort of outgrown the original improvements," said John M.W. Moorlach, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. "We were looking to accommodate 8.4 million passengers a year back in 1990. We are way beyond that now. Adding six gates makes a whole lot of sense."
In 1990, the airport opened the $63-million Thomas F. Riley Terminal, a sleek, cavernous structure with arching roofs that contained two concourses divided by a glass and steel main lobby. Combined with the adjacent parking structures, the facility was 12 times larger than the aging Edward J. Martin Terminal it replaced.
The airport is still known for its short runway of less than a mile, which limits the availability of nonstop flights and requires commercial pilots to climb steeply on takeoff to reduce noise as they pass over adjacent neighborhoods.
Nevertheless, airline customers say they often prefer the convenience and accessibility of John Wayne, though the ticket prices are higher than at other airports and there are far fewer flights to choose from compared with LAX.
