The highly anticipated opening of the new airport terminal this year won't only make it more convenient for the grandkids to visit and for tourists to discover Southwest Florida. It will also make life easier for businesspeople and clear the way for the kinds of companies coveted by economic developers.

The Midfield Terminal Complex at Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), which will be completed in May and should open some time this summer, will boost the number of gates from 17 to 28, with the capability to grow to 65. More gates allow for more airlines and more direct flights, linking Southwest Florida to additional regions throughout the country and the world. That opens the doors for more tourists to discover the area and smooths the path for countless businesses, which could set the region's economy in flight.

"One of the challenges we have is that sometimes to get to Fort Myers is more costly than to get to some other areas, simply because we don't have as many flights, or the flights are full, particularly in season," says Janet Watermeier. President of The Gulf Coast Group and former economic development director for Lee County, Watermeier serves on the Lee County Port Authority Special Management Committee as well as the Florida Transportation Commission. "There will be more potential for direct flights, so you don't have to change [planes], and that will make this community an easier place to do business."

The airport has been losing travelers to Tampa, Miami or Fort Lauderdale airports, where they find cheaper fares, says airport spokesperson Susan Sanders; and the new terminal will help recapture some of those. "Any time you have more airlines operating in a market or you have more airlines operating to a destination, you're going to have competition and competition is going to benefit the consumer."

No airlines have announced additions yet, but Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines are the only U.S. airlines not already serving Southwest Florida International, says Sanders. Discussions with Southwest have been going on for six years, and she believes it will enter the market once the terminal opens.

For organizations such as Source Interlink Companies, the expansion is nothing but good news. With almost 300 people in Southwest Florida, and 1,200 employees in locations all over the United States plus Canada and England, the company relies heavily on the airport.

"We have customers, vendors and staff in and out of there every week," says Sally Jackson, senior vice president of corporate administration. "Our company couldn't be here if we didn't have good air service, no question about it."

In fact, the project contributed to Source Interlink's decision to move its headquarters to Bonita Springs about two years ago. "Access to good air service was a critical factor in our decision and it was known that growth was not going to be a problem," says Jackson. "We intend to grow and we will be creating more traffic for the region."

In addition to the many part-time residents who commute back to the North or Midwest to their businesses, Southwest Florida also is a haven for entrepreneurs and consultants who live here full time, but do business elsewhere, says Watermeier. "They choose to live here because of the quality of life but they might have territory that's East Coast, Midwest, Latin America, wherever," she says. "They get on that plane on Monday morning and come back Friday."

She adds that the new terminal will let others join their ranks. "If you don't have the ability to have some of those direct flights, which we don't have right now, it limits the kind of people who can operate out of here," she says.

Source Interlink can't always get direct flights from Southwest Florida International, but the only time it had to rely on another airport was in preparation for Hurricane Charley, when the disaster-recovery staff had to get to Harrisburg, Pa. They flew out of Miami. "We have found the fares here, if you can schedule a little bit in advance, to be very good," Jackson says. "There are some of our locations which are pricey, but that's because there are not good connections. Harrisburg is one of those."

She says that the airport is generally convenient. "The constraints are when it's overcrowded and the checkpoints become backed up, there's just no give," Jackson says. "When you have to wait excessive periods of time to go through screening, that's a real challenge, particularly for business travelers."

Elbow-to-Elbow

The existing facility, which will be torn down, has been over capacity for years. Opened in 1983, it was expected to reach its capacity of 3 million passengers by 1995. It hit that seven years early, in 1988. By 1994 it reached the 4-million mark, which would break down to 333,000 passengers per month.

Ten years ago, the airport might have had two to three months above capacity with the remainder of the year significantly below those levels. Last year, every month was above capacity; and the peak months were two to three times above capacity, with the highest in March with 700,000 passengers, says Sanders.

"There's just not enough room to accommodate the growth we've been having. We've broken 20-year records for the past 20 months," she says. "We haven't had enough parking for over 10 years during season, and now we're getting to point where we don't have enough room any time."

The amount of cargo passing through the airport also has been on a steady rise, but the crush is in passenger traffic. "We're not strapped for cargo area like we are in the terminal," she says.

The Midfield Terminal Complex has been under construction since 2002. The two-level terminal will open with 28 gates along three concourses and will have twice the amount of parking, including a three-deck garage. Upper and lower roadways will allow for drop-offs and pick-ups. Road projects are in the works to ease airport ingress and egress, including feeder roads to Interstate 75 and a redesign of Treeline Road.

The complex is designed for easy expansion, as needed, up to five concourses and 65 gates. Probably within the next decade, an additional runway will be built to the south of the existing terminal, which is why the new facility is called the Midfield Terminal, says Sanders. "It's really not midfield right now, but once we add a second runway, it will sit midfield between the two runways."

The terminal will have an annual capacity of 10 million passengers. Seven million are expected by 2010, but Sanders is hesitant to predict when it will reach 10 million passengers per year, because of unknown variables, and that the life of the new complex is indefinite. She points out that the master plan for the existing terminal, created in the 1970s, didn't account for such factors as airline deregulation and the emergence of Disney World.

The cost was $386 million until security standards changed after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, forcing airports to retrofit for additional screening equipment and facilities. The Midfield Terminal project was reworked, and the budget grew to $438 million to accommodate the added security needs. Funding comes from state and federal grants, bond issues, and airport revenue generated by airlines and by tenants.

"It will have the newest equipment. Not many airports get built these days. For the tourist coming in and out, they've got to know coming into a new airport, the safety is way up there," says Fran Myers, incoming chair of the port authority's Special Management Committee. Myers, co-owner of the Red Coconut RV Resort on Fort Myers Beach, also serves on Lee County's Tourist Development Council.

Airport Economy

The terminal construction has created hundreds of jobs, with 500 to 700 workers on site on a typical day. It boosted Southwest Florida's economy at a time when it suffered several blows, including a national recession and the tourism free fall after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"It was a great project at a great time," says Watermeier. "Particularly when the economy after 9/11 took a little dip, it was able to keep our economy strong with all those new jobs."

According to a 1999 economic impact study in anticipation of the new terminal, about 1,400 people were employed at the airport with a total payroll of $38 million. Depending on the time of year, about 1,800 to 2,000 people are now employed. That number will increase because the larger terminal will have more retail space as well as a need for more airline and security personnel, says Sanders.

In fact, a discussion about the retail in the new terminal had Myers wondering whether they were talking about an airport or a shopping mall, she says with a laugh. "In other areas, people actually drive to the airport to shop," she says. "If this is possible, great. We might as well capture them while they're there, because no tax money goes into it. It's all driven by the rentals and the airlines."

The only fee the port authority directly charges to travelers is for parking. Ben Siegel, division director of administration for the port authority doesn't expect that cost to change significantly. It also collects rent from the retail tenants, and fees and rent from airlines-and keeping those costs down is important in attracting airlines, he adds.

The airlines contribute to the construction costs, but Siegel says the market is the main determinant in how they establish their fares. The port authority does have some input on what tenants charge for food, beverages and such, which is supposed to be within 5 percent to 10 percent of prices outside the airport.

Regional Impacts

Southwest Florida International Airport is ranked among the 50 busiest airports in the country. About 70 percent of those who use it are leisure travelers and 30 percent are business travelers.

"It is the economic engine along with tourism that drives this community," says Myers.

But will the appearance of a new airport terminal in itself really boost Southwest Florida's tourism? Absolutely, say those in the region's tourism industry, which injects nearly $2 billion annually into Lee County's economy.

"Just the number of flights we're going to have coming in and out, just the increase in that alone, it's got to," says Myers. "Maybe instead of Fort Lauderdale or Miami, they'll come here because we have better connections now. We've never been a connecting airport, where you get on another plane and go somewhere else."

"People say the airport is the economic engine that drives Southwest Florida's growth. That's true to some degree, but the fuel is what's happening in the region: tourism and economic development," says Sanders.

Combined with a booming population, the airport expansion puts Southwest Florida on the radar screen for companies, says Watermeier. "That attracts a different kind of business and a different level of everything, and the airport is critically important."

Businesspeople look to statistics to make their decisions, and while those might not tell the whole story, "when you have the stats, you get onto the list, and then people take a look at you. With a half million [population] in Lee, a million in the tri-county area, an expanding airport.that makes the list. All those things help identify us to get the quality things we want," says Watermeier.

The existing terminal will be razed, creating a site for a business. "We will be tearing it down and looking to get an aeronautical-

related business, probably something like aircraft maintenance and repair," says Sanders. "Since the airport is not supported by ad valorem taxes, but by what we generate here, we will be looking at something that will provide maximum revenue for us."

Watermeier says one of the best economic opportunities is to attract much-needed high-skill, high-wage jobs in aircraft-related businesses, or people that need to use the runway in and out. "And when the old terminal gets torn down, you now have the opportunity to build that area into probably one of the strongest business parks, with airport access and high-wage, high-skill jobs of the future," she says. "When you look at some of the airports around the country, you find that those that have airport access do the best."

Southwest Florida also has a tantalizing proximity to Latin American markets, she says. The region is not currently a hub, but there's opportunity in the future to be a hub to Latin America, especially with Miami busy and lacking space to expand, she says. She adds that with Southwest Florida International Airport already designated a Foreign Trade Zone, and available land and access to a runway, getting that trade zone up and operational will also help develop the international trade business.

"The proximity of the interstate, Florida Gulf Coast University-which already has business and political relationships in Mexico and Europe-and available industrial land linking them provides other opportunities," Watermeier says. "We have sufficient land with infrastructure to be able to attract some of the quality technology companies that will depend on the airport."

The airport is helping Southwest Florida move into the upper end of the mid-tier market, where it will probably remain, she says.

"There's opportunity with this expanding airport to explore things that you couldn't even explore before," Watermeier says.

Airport Shopping and Dining

The midfield terminal complex will feature a variety of local and national shops and restaurants, lined up by Paradies-Shell Factory II, LLC and Host International Inc., which serve the existing terminal.

Approximately 13,000 square feet of retail space will include 15 newsstands, gift shops and other stores, such as CNBC News, PGA TOUR Shop, Books and the Bean of Sanibel, Chico's, Brighton Collectibles, The Shell Factory and The Shops of The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel. Another 18,000 square feet will provide eateries, including Chili's, Starbucks, Burger King, Cinnabon, Maggie Moo's, Sbarro, Palm City Market, Beaches Café, First Round Café and Casa Bacardi.