Fresno Yosemite International Airport, Fresno, California, USA

Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FYIA), which was formerly known as Fresno Air Terminal (the airport was built in 1962 and the name was changed in 1995 in order to attract visitors to the national park), is a public airport located in south-eastern Fresno, in Fresno County, California.

The airport is however 92 miles away from its co-namesake national park of Yosemite. The airport covers an area of 2,150 acres and has two runways and one helipad. FYIA is the major air transportation facility for the San Joaquin Valley, with major air carrier service to airline hubs throughout the Western United States, as well as direct international flights to Guadalajara in Mexico.

The airport operates a modest number of commercial flights with the long standing MD80 service to Dallas on American Airlines and Mexicana, Frontier (ending flights to Denver in June 2007), and US Airways operating Airbus 319's to various cities five times a week (commercial services are mostly smaller regional aircraft).

US Airways recently upgraded to a 124-seat plane from the 90-passenger regional jet used before. United Express and Allegiant Air each added a flight to Las Vegas in 2006.

The vast majority of air traffic in and out of the airport is private aircraft. Only 7% of the air traffic is commercial, 6% is military, and the remainder of the capacity is private.

In 2006 the airport reported a usage level of 1.281 million passengers travelling through FYIA (155,000 aircraft operations and 32 million pounds of cargo) an increase of 7.54% over the 2005 numbers.

The airport was the first in the US to install a web-based, wireless system (PASSUR flight information display) to list active flight arrivals and departures. The category IIIB landing system is one of the most sophisticated in the US. WiFi access is available throughout airport.

FYIA PHASED IMPROVEMENTS

Despite the perceived lack of commercial business for FYIA the airport was designated an 'international point of entry' in 1988 by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) making it eligible for international flights (Canada and Mexico). Since this time even through the terrorist events of 2001 the airport has seen development and improvement.

In 2002 a new two-level concourse building was completed and in early 2006 construction of a new Federal inspection facility was completed. A project to double the size of the baggage-claim area and triple the size of the security-screening area worth $3.5m started in November 2006 and is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2007.

The next project on the agenda is a $3.5m remodel of the terminal lobby, which is expected to start once the baggage claim and security-screening improvements are finished. Matching Federal aviation grants will help pay for the improvements.

The construction of a $27m consolidated car rental facility is set to start in 2008. The airport's six car rental agencies will be into a single site adjacent to the airport terminal. CSHQA Architects of Boise were employed by the airport to design the car rental facility and the security improvements.

The new facility has been designed to protect both passengers and cars from the weather. This is an important investment as the airport receives 10% of car-rental revenues, which translates to about $3m a year in user fees. Car rentals, concessions and parking provide 45% of the airport's $12.5m annual income. Most of the remainder comes from gate fees paid by airlines.

BAGGAGE HANDLING AND SECURITY

The current airport rehabilitation and expansion programme consists of an outbound baggage-handling centre with 100% in-line baggage screening, ticket lobby remodel, TSA security checkpoint relocation and expansion, and baggage claim remodel and expansion using FAA Federal funds.

Project goals include improving the facility to comply with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security standards and guidelines and adding capacity to passenger / baggage flow systems. This complex project will improve the airport's image and passenger experience. Part of the project will include the installation of a new high-definition closed circuit television surveillance system to monitor security at the airport.

Passengers moving through the security checkpoint at Fresno Yosemite International Airport will be scanned by a system called PelcoMatch, which uses Pelco's cameras and Identix's Visionics facial identification technology. Facial scanning is voluntary for the passengers, who still pass through metal detectors and undergo other security checks.

PREVIOUS IMPROVEMENTS

A three-phase expansion program was instigated at the airport in 1990. The project was undertaken in an effort to attract more air traffic to the airport. Phase one of the expansion project was completed in 1993 and involved remodelling the main lobby and terminal for $6.5m.

In the second phase the concourse was remodelled; the passenger paging system improved; lockers updated; and cooling, heating, ventilation, fire protection and security systems were added at a cost of $4m.

The third phase ($20m) involved the construction of a new building at the end of the concourse to handle six jet ways and enclosed bridges, increasing the number of airport gates from 14 to 19, nearly doubling the capacity of the airport parking lot to 1,400, and relocating the main entrance of the airport.

In November 2002 the $55m, two-storey concourse was completed marking the final phase of the three-part expansion that began in 1988.

The new concourse included four passenger loading bridges, an expanded food court, business centre and a children's play area.

The expansion costs were funded through a combination of retained earnings, Passenger Facility Charges (PFC), and FAA Airport Improvement Programme grants for eligible portions of the work.

One of the products used in the concourse's design was Vistawall vertical curtainwall (with a silver Duranar paint finish). Duranar extrusion coatings are formulated by PPG Industries. Forms and Surfaces provided some of the external fittings for the terminal building. The completion of the third phase gave the airport a capacity increase from 1.1 million to two million passengers a year. Since the year 2000, passenger traffic had grown by 18%.

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS FOR IMPROVEMENTS

Carter & Burgess Inc were selected as the design consultant for various taxiway rehabilitations and reconstruction projects at the airport in 2005. The team was involved in the design of taxiway, airfield lighting and drainage. The first assignment as part of this contract was the rehabilitation of several taxiways including Taxiways B6, B9, B10, C10, B12, and C12.

Also included were the design and construction of midfield air cargo taxiways, design and construction of a midfield air cargo apron, design and construction of airfield drainage improvements and the design and construction of a midfield air cargo access road. Additionally, Carter & Burgess are also developing the airport's Computer-Aided Design (CAD) standards.