HSVTiger

More options available for Chicago in September when a United Airlines affiliate begins offering two daily round-trip, nonstop flights. Huntsville International Airport officials said Monday that United Airlines will begin offering the flights Sept. 2 on 50-seat regional jets operated by Mesa Air Group as United Express. Huntsville has daily nonstop flights to 11 U.S. cities. American Airlines offers one daily nonstop flight to Chicago.

Airlines expect tough going By KEITH CLINES Times Staff Writer [email protected] Carriers plan to cut flights, number of seats available Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority officials are bracing for hard times to continue after a 2008 that started good then turned sour. Though the airport saw an increase in the number of passengers last year over 2007, airlines serving this area plan to cut the number of flights and seats available. Passenger traffic at the airport was down 2.9 percent in December compared to December 2007. For all of 2008, more than 1.25 million passengers passed through the airport, missing the record year of 2005 by 12,051 passengers.

Expansion plans announced http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/loc....xml&coll=1

http://www.al.com/business/huntsvilletimes....xml&coll=1 A new west wing, the first of two wings planned, is scheduled to open next month, and passengers flying into and out of the airport will be diverted to that space. The public-waiting and security-screening areas will be housed there.

Airport passengers increased 1 percent in June and 2.9 percent in July year over year. Year to date, passenger traffic at Huntsville is 754,049, or 7.1 percent higher than the same seven-month period last year. In other business Tuesday, Butch Roberts, the airport's deputy director, said bids are in for the next phase of the parking deck expansion, which includes road improvements. Reed Construction had the low bid at more than $4.3 million, and the airport also bid two alternates, totaling $559,125, to replace original streetlights south of James Record Road and upgrade signs in the same area. http://www.al.com/business/huntsvilletimes....xml&coll=1

Passenger count at Huntsville International Airport through June reached 640,153. A 7.9% increase over the same period last year.

By MARIAN ACCARDI Times Business Writer [email protected] 92-acre site will double the park's warehouse space A Connecticut developer's plans to build more than 2 million square feet of office and warehouse facilities in Jetplex Industrial Park South would double the park's warehouse/distribution space. J.A. Green Development, based in Greenwich, Conn., said it will buy 92 acres in the park and soon begin building an air-cargo and distribution building of about 100,000 square feet. The 92-acre site will house about 1 million square feet of office/warehouse space eventually, according to the company.

"The tragedy of a 5-year-old child dying at the Air Show 2008 likely won't prevent future air shows from being planned at the Huntsville International Airport. At a press conference Tuesday morning, airport executive director Rick Tucker said the decision was made years ago to give the community a quality air show about every five years, with the first one happening in 2003 and the second in 2008. While he said the entire airport staff was offering prayers and sympathies to the family of Aaron Josiah Miller, he said it was important to continue providing the kind of air show entertainment that the child so dearly loved." HSV Times

Through May 525,946 passengers , up 9.5% from last year. So far the impact of the airline industry slump has been a bit less than expected. No flights have been cancelled by any carriers Continental, still is running the HSV to Houston nonstops. Allegiant did drop service, but it's their fault they are a very niche type of airline but hated to lose their service. Business travel is 68% which may explain the less of an impact. What may happen is a change of aircraft from mainline to regional jets but I don't see that working unless they add more flights. As long as the passenger load remains high they can justify the bigger jets.

Huntsville Times The Federal Aviation Administration today dedicates its new 228-foot-tall air traffic control tower at Huntsville International Airport. The tower, which became operational a month ago, is 132 feet taller than the original 40-year-old structure and gives controllers an unblocked view of the entire airfield. The tower's construction and equipment cost is $18.5 million. The old tower will be released to the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority if it wants the structure, or, if not, the FAA will demolish the tower. It would be neat if they could use the old tower somehow, maybe a restaurant or an aircraft observatory for school children. Access/security would probably be an issue.

New hotel under construction An $11 million apartment-style hotel will begin construction in August adjacent to the old Sweetwater Plantation, and tourism officials expect it will accommodate visitors during peak tourism times. The Marriott Residence Inn is expected to be completed by the fall of 2009, bring 35-40 jobs and is projected to have $2.8 million in revenue for its first year. The hotel will have a total of 110 studio, one bedroom and two bedroom suites that will include full kitchens, will be larger than typical hotel rooms and will resemble the layout of an apartment. "The goal of the property is to provide a homelike atmosphere with business amenities and give a sense of community to its patrons," says Tony Contigiani, regional director of operations for Yedla Management Co., the project's developer out of Huntsville. "This can be achieved by guests connecting with guests, connecting with the associates and connecting with the community," he said. http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080522.../805220327/1011

This is a big building.. from WAFF 4,000 feet long, 700 feet wide. It will soon be the North Alabama railcar plant. Project executive Paul Panelli says the biggest challenge with this project has been the design. "As new process equipment vendors have been coming on board, we learn more about that equipment so it's caused some changes to the design very late in the process," Panelli said. A process that's taken 300,000 man hours and 90 days of construction so far; but this project hasn't worn Panelli down. "Very excited when we first started the project and the level of excitement has continued to build throughout the project.," he said. A project that started with 300 workers on site, and will ultimately provide jobs for 1800 people.

The Federal Aviation Administration commissioned the new 228-foot-tall airport traffic control tower at Huntsville International Airport on Sunday morning. "The new tower provides an ideal environment for air traffic controllers to continue to provide the safest service to the flying public," said Doug Murphy, FAA southern regional administrator. "With an increased height and advanced technology, this new facility is poised to support the impressive growth of the Huntsville airport today and well into the future." The new tower is a mile south of the existing one in a gated, fenced complex, and is located between the airport's two parallel runways. The project includes the tower, a 10,500-square-foot base building, a generator building and parking. Hsv Times