Stewart Update

Good time for a Stewart update. From the Business Travel News Online. Part of the story below. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey buying a "reliever" airport for the last 93 years of a lease for 78.5 million.

NY, NJ Port Authority To Buy Stewart International

By Frank Rosci


MARCH 19, 2007 -- With uncongested airspace in dramatically short supply in skies above New York City and ever-growing numbers of passengers pushing the combined capacity of the city's three major airports to near maximum levels, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is doing something it hasn't done since 1949—buying another airport, namely Stewart International in Newburgh, N.Y.

According to the Port Authority's Board of Commissioners, the plan—which allows the agency to purchase the airport's operating lease from London-based National Express Corp. for $78.5 million for the contract's remaining 93 years—represents a necessary step in light of the city's crowded skyways and burgeoning ranks of travelers.

Some 104 million passengers in 2006, a record number, flew into and out of John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Teterboro Airport, said spokesman Marc Lavorgna, up 20 million passengers since 2003, with 125 million anticipated by 2015 and 150 million by 2025. In the next 10 years, Port Authority will invest $4 billion in the airports.

"Our interest in Stewart has been known for some time and today's action is the result of a long-term vision for tackling the air traffic challenges we face in coming years," said PA chairman Anthony Coscia on Jan. 25, 2007.

The announced date for the agency to begin operating Stewart is October 2007. Until then, the final details of the deal will be worked out, said Lavorgna. "Stewart is being acquired as a 'reliever' airport because New York is running out of airspace and eventually will run out of room sometime in the 2015-to-2025 timeframe. Passengers flying in and out of New York are experiencing long delays within a 235-mile radius of the city," he explained.