US airports show mixed response on expansion plans

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Although one major US airport, Orlando, has come out with positive plans for its fifth airside terminal many others are still putting on hold or slowing expansion because of a dramatic drop in airline traffic. At stake is future retail capacity amounting to thousands of square metres of commercial space expected to come in stream in the next four years.

At Orlando new security rules imposed after September 11 have meant that the new south terminal (scheduled to open no earlier than June 2005) had to be resigned. Last month, the airport's governing board postponed a design contract for the project, allowing architects to reevaluate locations for parking, retail and passenger flows in the terminal. Greater Orlando Aviation Authority is awaiting the architects report. Executive director of Orlando International airport, Bill Jennings, said recently: "Everything we have under way right now, those are moving forward."

Based on this year's most recent traffic data, Orlando was the fifth fastest growing US airport after Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Houston.

Meanwhile Los Angeles International airport has scaled back expansion plans to emphasise security over capacity. The revised plan there will boost the airport's capacity to 78m passengers per year by 2015, instead of the 89m previously envisioned. Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport has stopped most work on a $1.2bn expansion, including preliminary work on a $650m terminal to replace two existing ones.

Minneapolis-St Paul airport is freezing non-essential construction and considering delaying the opening of a runway that was scheduled for 2003. San Francisco has halted plans to renovate a domestic terminal and build a new airport hotel but is moving ahead with runway expansion. Boston Logan airport has made no decision on whether to proceed with the final phase of a 10-year, $4bn renovation.

Other airports are pressing ahead. Atlanta Hartsfield International is going forward with $1.3bn project for a fifth runway and new international terminal. Dallas-Fort Worth International recently started construction work on a $2.6bn international terminal and people mover.

• More information on commercial opportunities at US airports is available in the recently published report by Raven Fox Research: "Airport Retailing Opportunities - North America"