La Guardia make-over

Most international travellers would never have used New York’s La Guardia Airport, named after a former charismatic Mayor (Kennedy was once called Idlewild in honour of a local land developer – it was quickly changed to Kennedy (JFK) after the death of the President in 1963). La Guardia started life as a seaplane base and last year moved 27m passengers, domestically within the USA, and to and from Canada. 

Situated in the northern suburb of Queens it is 10 miles from Times Square.  It has a reputation as America’s most awful airport.  Flushing Meadow for tennis is nearby. One can also route that way to JFK.

After years of bureaucratic to-and-fro, the Port Authority, which operates LaGuardia, as well as Kennedy and Newark airports plus Stewart New Jersey, general aviation base Teterboro and Atlantic City Airport, has now given the go-head for a nearly US$4bn renovation of the airport’s central terminal building.

The finished result will offer flyers a three- rather than two-level terminal, with 35 gates spread across 1.3 million sq ft, up from 835,000sq ft.  It will accommodate 17.5m of the 34m passengers La Guardia expects annually by 2030.   www.panynj.gov/airports/laguardia.html

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