The Atlanta City Council has approved, 9-2, a resolution allowing Ben DeCosta, general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, to authorize re-design of the Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal (MHJIT).

The new $8.5 million work authorization has been assigned to Gateway Designers, a joint venture (JV) between Gresham, Smith & Partners and Duckett Design Group for architectural and engineering services. The JV group is charged with designing the highly anticipated billion-dollar terminal, named in honor of late Atlanta Mayor, Maynard H. Jackson.

TDT, the original JV group comprised of Leo A. Daly Company, KHAFRA Engineering Consultants, Inc., Anthony C. Baker Architects & Planners, PC, and Browder + LeGuizamon and Associates, was terminated August 15, 2005 after failing to provide a design within the allotted budget for the project.

“We are pleased to get this important project back on track,” said DeCosta. “Our international passenger traffic has more than doubled since we hosted the 1996 Olympics, and we expect this trend to continue. At the world’s busiest passenger airport it’s critical that we remain focused on the future, creating world class facilities that will keep pace with demand.”

With the new design team in place, DeCosta expects that the international terminal will be constructed and operational by late 2010 or early 2011. The new international terminal will also provide additional domestic gates which are in high demand at the Atlanta Airport.

The MHJIT is one of numerous active construction projects in the airport’s
$6 billion-plus Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Some of the other projects are a $500 million off-site Consolidated Rental Car Facility best known as CONRAC, which is underway and expected to open in December 2008; a $50 million End Around Taxiway construction project approved earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Transportation and partially funded by the FAA; the newly operational Hold Baggage Screening system which, at a final price tag of $175 million, is being completed well under the allotted $215 million budget; a $90 million, 60-day runway re-construction project that began on September 8; and a $6 million interior upgrade project, which includes new flooring, lighting, windows and wall coverings.

The centerpiece of the CIP is Hartsfield-Jackson’s Runway 10-28, its fifth, which opened in May this year. The $1.2 billion runway was one of the most expensive runways, and by far the most important, ever built in the U.S.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport officials are constantly reviewing and implementing enhanced features to safely and securely accommodate passengers and employees. The completion of the innovative East International Terminal project is a part of realizing that goal. Soon Atlanta will proudly unveil its new, state-of-the-art, “front door” through which the world comes to Atlanta.  Full Story

New Facility Features:
+ New global international gateway
+ Enhanced international passenger customer service
+ Connects to existing 28-gate International Concourse for a total of 38 International Gates
+ Additional Bureau of Customs and Border Protection facility
+ In-line baggage screening system
+ Reconfiguration of Aviation Boulevard to create the first east-side entrance to Hartsfield-Jackson
+ International air carriers such as Delta Air Lines, Air Jamaica, British Airways, Korean Air and Lufthansa Airlines will have customer check-in counters
+ Automated people mover extension to new terminal and new storage facility