New cargo ramp to enhance airport

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Tuesday approved a request to ask for bids for constructing a new cargo ramp at the Palmdale Regional Airport.

The ramp is estimated to cost $1.5 million and measure 600 by 300 feet - that's large enough to accommodate two cargo aircraft at the same time.

"We are committed to growing cargo service at Palmdale," said John J. Agoglia, the commission president. "But before we can approach cargo companies about using our airport, we've got to get some concrete on the ground."

The construction of the ramp comes after the airport commission contributed $2 million to a U.S. Air Force airfield improvement project at Palmdale last year, said John Driscoll, executive director of the Los Angeles World Airports.

"When the ramp project is completed, Palmdale will be a viable alternative to LAX for cargo operations," he said.

The project contract is expected to be awarded this summer, and construction is expected to begin in November and take six months to complete.

The airport closed its doors earlier this year when the last commercial airline, United Express, abandoned flights to Los Angeles International Airport.

An $855,000 grant to study Southern California's aviation needs, including Palmdale, was issued recently by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The grant to the Southern California Association of Governments commissions a study of regional air transportation needs through 2020.

By that year, the regional governments group predicts Southern California's airline passenger and aircargo volume will triple.

Several citizen groups, including L.A. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, oppose expansion of LAX and support feeding passenger and cargo traffic into Palmdale instead.

Current regional government projections, which allow for expanding LAX, show Palmdale's air traffic growing to only 300,000 passengers per year - a fraction of growth projected for every other commercial airport in Southern California.

Estimates show a severe shortage of air-cargo capacities at regional airports by 2020.

By then, the regional group forecasts show 8.9 million annual tons of air cargo shipped in and out of Southern California.

In 1995, 3 million tons were shipped in and out of the region.