First Coast to gain second commercial airport
Upgrading St. Augustine Airport
To accommodate Skybus and other potential additional flight operators, the airport's facilities will have to be upgraded in order to be certified as a commercial airport. In the short term, the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Airport Authority will construct a hanger to serve as the base of operations for Skybus.
However, future plans involve constructing a $20 million dollar multi-modal transportation facility that would accommodate aviation, rail, and surface vehicle demands.
Plan your flight today: www.skybus.com
The growth at St. Augustine's Airport creates the potential for another Transit Oriented Development destination along a possible commuter rail system that could connect downtown Jacksonville to St. Augustine within the next 10 years.
The St. Augustine Airport's main runway is 10,000 feet long. By comparison, Cecil Field's longest runway is 12,500 feet long and Jacksonville International Airport's longest runway is 10,000 feet long.
Expansion Continues At Jacksonville International Airport
In the meantime, Jacksonville International Airport continues an aggressive expansion program. The current project is in the second year of a three year process. It includes demolishing concourses A & C and replacing them with more spacious facilities which will also house additional gates. Construction is expected to be completed by the spring of 2009.
This rendering provides a glimpse of what the new concourses at JIA will resemble from the outside when complete in 2009.
In addition to the new concourse, JIA's expansion will also increase the number of retail operations at the airport.
In 2006, 5,946,188 passengers traveled in and out of JIA, aboard more than a dozen major airlines and regional carriers serving the airport. While there's plenty of room for additional growth at Jacksonville International, having a second option on the south end of the metropolitan region will increase the community's quality of life, by giving residents a choice in their travel plans.