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| Will the Palmdale Regional Airport be handling
400,000 passengers a year by 2008 or 1.2 million
passengers annually by 2030? URS Corp., the consulting
firm preparing the master plan for Los Angeles world
Airports, came up with those figures as reasonable
estimates for potential passenger counts at Palmdale. |
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| There is constantly growing need for Palmdale Airport
as a regional facility that could accommodate residents
of the Antelope, Santa Clarita, San Fernando and San
Gabriel valleys plus the communities of Southeast Kern
counties. Perhaps as many as 3 million people would find
Palmdale more accessible than LAX, which is surrounded by
a world-class traffic morass. |
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| LAWA(Los Angeles World Airports) leases about 62 of
the 5,700 acres at Air Force Plant 42 and owns the
terminal on that land, but its flight operations are
limited by, and require permission of, the Air Force.
Although an extensive environmental impact report was
done in the 1970s - at a cost of more than $1 million -
another report will probably be required before
development of the 17,500-acre site east of Plant 42 can
be initiated. |
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| For six years the terminal site was padlocked, but
now Scenic Airlines is providing 10 weekly roundtrip
flights between Palmdale and the North Las Vegas Airport.
About 100 passengers use the service each week. Shuttles
are available at North Las Vegas so that passengers can
transfer to flights at McCarran Airport, providing a
gateway to any airport on the face of the earth. LAWA
officials hope that other air carriers will follow
Scenic's lead, providing additional passenger and cargo
service. |
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| Ultimately, with cargo carriers rapidly expanding
global operations, Palmdale could become a major hub
simply by building distribution centers and warehousing.
In the 1960s, officials from what was then the Los
Angeles Department of Airports (now LAWA) studied the
entire Southern California area and decided that Palmdale
was the place for the next major commercial airport
facility. Ultimately, as L.A. basin traffic congestion
continues to coagulate, more and more people will find
that Palmdale Regional Airport is a blessed air
transportation site... and the parking is free. |
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