Visitors flying into Orange County will get a new first impression when John Wayne Air-port’s Terminal C open’s Nov. 14.
It’s the centerpiece of a $543 million airport improvement project that has been in the works since Aug. 2009.
Terminal C will bring six boarding gates, 2,000 parking spaces and a U.S. Customs and Border gate to process international passengers.
There will be a lineup of restaurants and other amenities. Conveniences for passengers will eventually include the ability to print boarding passes at any self-service kiosk in the airport. Currently, they have to go to their respective airline (see Tech’s Role in Renovation, page 30).
The entire improvement project—including upgrades to terminals A and B—will be wrapped up next year.
The cost for Terminal C is $196 million.
The terminal will be 282,000 square feet, larger than either terminals A or B, which together add up to 448,000 square feet. It will serve as a hub for Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines.
Southwest is the busiest airline at the airport, with about 37% of the market share, according to New York-based Fitch Ratings Ltd., which rates the airport’s revenue bonds.
Frontier has less than 5% of the market share.
About 41% of the airport’s $116 million revenue comes from airlines, according to Fitch Ratings. The next biggest source of revenue is parking, which accounts for 30% of annual income, according to the airport.
The new terminal and renovations to its counterparts will give JWA some room and help it operate more efficiently as the travel industry continues to recover from the recent recession, according to officials of the airport, which is owned and operated by Orange County.
“A lot of what people are going to see is that it’s really for the customer’s benefit,” said Courtney Wiercioch, deputy airport director of public affairs. “They’ll have a little more elbow room, more concessions. It will make their experience more efficient, more comfortable.”
Passenger Traffic
JWA handles about 8.4 million passengers a year.
That’s down from a peak of 9.9 million in 2007, when the airport nearly reached its current cap.
The expansion takes the cap up to 10.8 million through 2015. After that, a new cap would have to be negotiated with the City of Newport Beach and various community groups, according to an agreement reached several years ago to limit the numbers of daily departures and annual passenger traffic.
The airport has roughly 50% business travelers and 50% leisure travelers.
That could change with the arrival of more international flights, which the airport expects to add in a year to 18 months.
Representatives of Orange County’s tourism industry are looking forward to the possibility.
Canada-based WestJet offers the only international flights at the airport. In May, it launched nonstop flights between Vancouver and the airport, followed up in June with direct service to Calgary.
Future expansions into the international market will help solidify John Wayne Airport as a major airport in Southern Cal-ifornia, said Elaine Cali, spokeswoman for the Anaheim/ Orange County Visitor & Con-vention Bureau.
Airport officials are talking to international carriers as well as domestic airlines that serve international destinations (see JWA “Hopeful” on Addition of Mex-ico Flights by 2013, page 24).
“It would be super-convenient for Orange County travelers so they don’t have to go to an international airport,” said Jenny Wedge, airport spokeswoman.
Service to Mexico is a goal that will get some tangible backing from the presence of federal customs officials at Terminal C.
Terminal C will have three baggage carousels. Terminals A and B have two each.
New Concessions
The main concessionaire at the airport, Italy’s Autogrill S.p.A., parent of Bethesda, Md.-based HMSHost Corp., is opening new food and beverage concessions in all of the terminals.
Terminal C concessions will include an Anaheim Ducks Breakaway Bar & Grill, Ciao Gourmet Market and Starbucks Coffee.
New Jersey-based Hudson Group, a news and gifts concessionaire, will open a CNN Newsstand Orange County/Tech on the Go in Terminal C.
News and gift operator Paradies OC LLC, part of Atlanta-based The Paradies Shops, will open an OC Travel Mart and a CNBC News Express in Terminal C.
Terminals A and B also will see new restaurants and stores, including Zov’s, Hobie Sand Bar, California Pizza Kitchen, La Tapenade Mediterranean Café. Vino Volo, a wine shop, recently opened in Terminal B.
Airport officials are counting on the new lineup to boost the amount of money travelers spend in the terminals. Passengers currently spend an average of $5.24 on food and other items at the airport. That’s down from $8 before the recession.
The airport’s contract for a concessionaire in charge of boosting revenue through advertising will be going out for bid later this year.
New York-based JCDecaux North America Inc. has the advertising concession at JWA.
Interactive kiosks across from the information booth in the baggage area are an example of ways the airport gets advertising revenue. Hotels and rental car companies pay to be listed in the kiosk’s directory. Passengers use the kiosks to find information on the companies listed and can print out contact information their choices.
In all, the airport will have roughly 8,500 parking spaces on the improvement project is completed. The gain of 2,000 spaces in the parking structure for Terminal C has been partially offset by the loss of others to make room for other elements of the improvement project.
Already complete is a $31 million power plant. It’s the airport’s main source of power and is expected to see a payback period of about eight years.
