Southwest Airlines may get new concourse at Hobby
HOUSTON (AP) -- Two Hobby Airport concourses may be demolished in a couple of years to make way for a new, deluxe concourse for Southwest Airlines, city aviation officials say.
The city has a tentative agreement with Southwest, said Richard Fernandez, spokesman for the city of Houston Aviation Department.
Southwest spokeswoman Kristie Kerr said expansion plans for Houston"s smaller airport still need to be finalized.
"We are still talking with the city about our lease agreement," Ms. Kerr said. "We hope to come to a full agreement soon."
Construction on Hobby"s B and C concourses would not begin until late 1999. Other parts of an $82 million renovation, however, will begin as soon as next year, Fernandez said Friday.
"Hobby is an old airport," he said. "You"ve got to keep it up."
The new concourse would allow Southwest to expand from 14 to 19 gates. The airport then would have a total of 32 gates instead of 27, Fernandez said. There also would be room for more concessions.
Southwest accounts for about 80 percent of Hobby"s passenger traffic, with Concourse A accommodating most Southwest flights.
Under the plan, concourses B and C would be removed and replaced by the new concourse. Then, Concourse A would be renovated for the eight other airlines that use Hobby, Fernandez said.
Other planned changes would improve the movement of checked baggage. Also, the new concourse would be designed to accommodate the Boeing 737-700, a slightly larger model of the Boeing 737 that Dallas-based Southwest is adding to its fleet, Fernandez said.
The renovation would be financed by airport revenue bonds -- debt secured by the rent paid by the airlines. Fernandez said the first contract, for new baggage claim carousels, will be bid as soon as next month.
The entire renovation should be completed in five years.
Hobby, the nation"s 35th busiest airport, began operations as a city-owned airport in 1937. Traffic has been flat recently at 8.4 million passengers per year.
Traffic at 18-year-old George Bush Intercontinental Airport-Houston, the country"s 15th busiest airport, grew more than 8 percent this year to 26.5 million passengers, Fernandez said.
Houston-based Continental Airlines, which uses Intercontinental as its hub, accounts for about 80 percent of the traffic at the north-side airport. Houston"s larger airport is getting a $190 million renovation, including a tramway between two terminals, to serve the hometown airline.