The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Tuesday voted to award contracts totaling $81,179,000 to build the first phase of a Regional Intermodal Transportation Center (RITC) at Bob Hope Airport (BUR).
The RITC is one of two major projects that the airport authority is hoping to undertake over the next several years. A more controversial proposal is to replace the airport’s 82-year-old terminal with a new facility that meets Federal Aviation Administration safety guidelines. That project, which has in past years pitted the airport authority and the city of Burbank against each other, is no sure thing.
Daniel Feger, executive director of BUR, says the city of Burbank and the airport authority nearing the end of a “no-development” agreement about the terminal that was put in place in 2005, after a decade of disagreements and litigation.
“Last year the city and the authority agreed to extend the no development agreement for another three years, under the premise that its time for us to have a talk about building a replacement terminal building with the same number of gates that we already have,” Feger says.
He says the need is clear, and a public survey confirmed broad support for a new terminal due to safety concerns.
“Our existing terminal building is 82 years old. It doesn’t meet current separation standards for how far the building is from the runway.” Feger says. “Also the building has certain components that don’t meet current seismic design standards.
While the parties continue to assess whether a new terminal is in order, BUR is moving forward on its RITC. The facility is designed to connect airport passengers and visitors to multiple transportation modes at a single location.
The RITC will be located next to an existing train station that connects passengers to rail lines to the south. A separate rail line to the north currently has no station at BUR, but that could change if a new terminal is built.
“If we build a replacement terminal it will be located on the other side of the runway to the north, and there will most likely be some kind of passenger conveyance that would link the intermodal center with the new terminal and the high speed rail line on the north,” Feger says.
Aside from the major capital projects in the works or in discussion, BUR is focusing on recouping some of the passengers lost during the recent recession. The airport has lost nearly one-third of its passengers since 2007, dropping from about 6 million passengers annually to just over 4 million projected for 2012.
Part of those efforts revolve around keeping airline costs low. Due to a tight fiscal policy, a focus on concessions and development of non-aeronautical revenue, BUR’s non-aviation revenue comprises about 90% of its annual operations and maintenance budget, Feger says. He says the airport is committed to continuing those efforts and looking for new revenue sources.
(Editor’s note: The full interview with Daniel Feger will appear in the June issue of Airport Revenue News).
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