The Baton Rouge Metro Airport could begin to see significant expansions in 2006 because of Hurricane Katrina. Airport officials discovered this week through qualified polling data by Survey Communications, Inc. – an independent marketing research firm – that an estimated 16,000 additional passengers plan to use the airport from now on. The 16,000 made up about half of the surveyed passengers. The administration is now accepting bids for a consultant firm to be chosen in December. The firm will decide how the airport should expand in 2006 with the use of tax dollars in the form of federal grants and state aviation trust funds. Ronnie Pickard, BRMA marketing director, said the airport will pay the chosen firm up to $550,000 to re-evaluate the airport’s master plan set for 2022 – a process that should take about six months. Pickard said new projects could include more parking garages, a hotel at the airport, terminal expansion, a bigger staff, expanded security and a purchase of 30,000 acres of land around the airport. The expansion will take place as Delta Airlines – the airport’s largest carrier – adds nonstop service to new cities, the first of which was Orlando, which began Nov. 1.
Nonstop Delta service to Washington, D.C. and New York begins Dec. 1.
 
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