Change Is in the Air at Edmonton International Airport
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It helps to have good connections, and the Edmonton International Airport is taking that to an elevated level.
The airport is a critical transportation hub for all of northwestern Canada and currently serves more than 6.5 million passengers a year. However, a current expansion project that is taking place at EIA will allow the airport to accommodate 9 million passengers a year once the construction initiative is completed in 2012.
And by the way, the cost of that current construction initiative is a formidable $1.1 billion but is expected to be a more than worthwhile investment.
EIA is the fastest-growing airport in all of Canada, with the busy airport leading the country in percentage of passenger growth from 2006-08. As a result, the expansion project was initiated in order to further serve the growing number of passengers.
One of the specific construction upgrades will be adding new gates, boosting the number to 30 from the current 17. In addition, there will be expanded restaurant offerings, more retail and office space, and a new passenger concourse.
Parking also will be expanded, and new technology will be added to help passengers move through the airport as efficiently as possible. That technology will include allowing passengers to self-tag baggage and check baggage at multiple locations throughout the entire terminal.
The slogan for the expansion effort is “We will move you.”
Edmonton International currently features 53 non-stop flights to destinations in Canada, the United States, Europe and Mexico, including daily non-stop service between Edmonton and London-Heathrow Airport. And apart from the overall EIA expansion program, construction is also scheduled to begin in late 2009 on a 200-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel that will be connected by a walkway to the EIA north terminal.
Story by Kevin Litwin
