The Port Authority, which operates the New York area's three main airports, says it has done all the repainting and patching and remodeling that it can on La Guardia's Central Terminal and now it wants to tear it down and start over the Wall Street Journal reports. The Central Terminal at La Guardia Airport is 42 years old and holds four separate concourses and 36 of La Guardia's 75 gates. The Port Authority spent $340 million on the Central Terminal about 14 years ago. Rebuilding La Guardia's Central Terminal, which houses 14 airlines, will be one of the most complicated and most expensive airport projects in aviation history. Plans are being drawn to knock down old aircraft hangars on each side of the Central Terminal and build new, wider concourses. In all, it will take many years and cost more than $1 billion. And this will be just one of many airport rebuilding projects over the next few years. Airports Council International estimates U.S. airports need $71.5 billion in infrastructure spending by 2009 to keep up with increasing demand and aging facilities.
