Airport Check-in: $680M Toronto concourse opens
Roger Yu, USA TODAY, 2/4/2007 (excerpted)
TORONTO : New concourse open for business
Toronto Pearson International on Tuesday opened its new international concourse in Terminal 1. The facility will be used for international flights — including to and from the USA — operated by Air Canada and United Airlines. Lufthansa, Mexicana and smaller airlines also operate from the facility.
Terminal 2, which previously handled these flights, is now closed. The new concourse cost $680 million, making it one of the most expensive airport construction projects in Canada.
RENO : Registered traveler program coming soon
Technology firm Unisys hopes to launch its first registered traveler program at Reno-Tahoe International by the end of February. The program provides speedy security clearance through a separate line for prescreened subscribers. Larry Zmuda, a Unisys executive overseeing the program, says the rollout could be pushed to March, depending on airport and federal security officials' schedules.
Unisys, whose program is called RTGo, becomes the first company other than New York-based Verified Identity Pass to land an airport contract. VIP, run by entrepreneur Steven Brill, operates the program at five airports: Orlando, New York John F. Kennedy, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and San Jose, Calif.
Unisys' goal is to sign up 25,000 subscribers in Reno and operate in six to 10 airports by the end of the first year. VIP, whose program is called Clear, has 35,000 subscribers.
DENVER: Frontier to add to its gates
Denver International and Frontier Airlines are working on a plan to expand a regional jet facility on Concourse A.
The Denver-based carrier needs more space for its new subsidiary, Lynx Aviation, which will begin flying this summer in Colorado and Wyoming (and possibly other destinations) with 10 turboprop planes.
The current facility on Concourse A, which serves several other airlines, is already crowded.
Officials haven't determined the scope of expansion, says Joe Hodas, a Frontier spokesman. Until then, Frontier will deal with its growth by taking over six gates being abandoned by United on Concourse A, giving Frontier a total of 23 by May 1.
The airport is building a $42 million regional jet facility for United, to be completed this spring.