ABB 2006/7 | State Profiles | South East region | Georgia | Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport

Officials at the world’s busiest airport might be content to rest on their laurels, but not at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. In 2005 the complex served 86 million passengers and in May 2006, the airport opened its new 9,000-foot fifth runway. The additional runway will enable the facility to reduce delays and serve 120 million passengers annually.

The opening of the runway is part of an ambitious, 10-year improvement plan estimated to cost more than $54 million. It is the largest public-works project in Georgia’s history and will make Hartsfield-Jackson the premier airport facility in the United States. “The airport is a major economic development prize that we have in the state,” says Craig Lesser, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Anything that continues to enhance and improve the airport is a huge plus for us.”

Part of the projected development plan includes a new international terminal, adding 10 additional passenger gates and increasing Hartsfield-Jackson’s international gates to 38. The facility, named the Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal in honour of Atlanta’s late mayor, will also feature its own baggage claim facility, thus eliminating the need for passengers to reclaim baggage at the central terminal. The new international terminal will service the airport’s growing international traffic. Since the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, city officials say the airport has seen a doubling of international flights and in 2005 the airport handled more than 7 million international travellers.

Mario Diaz, Hartsfield-Jackson’s deputy general manager, anticipates that the upgrades will not only attract new direct international flights to the airport, but will also assist in the recruitment of investment to Georgia. Landing fees at the airport are anticipated to increase to 96 cents per thousand pounds of aircraft. If rates do increase, they will still be some of the lowest airport landing fees in the nation.

Hartsfield-Jackson airport serves not only passenger traffic, but cargo as well. In 2003, even after the imposed restriction on mail and cargo after the September. 11 attacks, the airport transported 683,416 metric tons of freight. That’s good news to business and industry looking to ship their products across the country and into international markets. “Hartsfield- Jackson puts 500 places in the world within easy reach,” says Cullen Larson, executive director of the Georgia Economic Developers Association. “That’s important, particularly when you are considering South American markets. You can get your goods into those countries quite easily.”

Hartsfield-Jackson is also centrally located in North Georgia and easily accessible via the state’s interstate highway system. Currently the airport handles 48 weekly passenger flights from the United Kingdom, and airport officials say they look to expand service into the Caribbean within the year. Commuter airlines put North Georgia and Coastal Georgia within simple and immediate access. MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) has easy train access from the airport into the city of Atlanta and the northern suburban Atlanta area.

www.atlanta-airport.com

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