The Edmonton International Airport says its billion dollar expansion is on time and under budget as it doubles in size from eight to sixteen football fields in length.
The expansion will offer kids play areas, performance areas, full service restaurants and enhanced features for the business traveler that the airport did not want to expand on just yet.
It will also have a new control and office tower around eight stories high that will look more like an abstract piece of art.
And if you're headed through Canada Customs, Paul Garbiar, Vice President of Infrastructure and Technology for EIA, says you'll like what you see.
"One of the things we recognize is that when international travelers come into Canada it might be their first time in Canada, or their first time in Edmonton, so were going to create a really good impression in that area," remarks Garbiar. "We've got sort of a vaulted ceiling look. We have some sustainable features like a living wall and then we're going to have some art and ambiance in there to make it a real special place when people arrive in Canada."
Travelers to the United States will also be greeted with a much larger security area in an effort to cut down on wait times.
Garbiar says the completion date for the airport expansion is set for October 2012 with room to expand and a master plan stretching until 2030.
"Right now were sized for 5.5 (million people), we're seeing 6.1. The expansion will give us the capacity to reach about 9 million passengers per year, and we expect to hit that mark around the 2015 mark."
And when it comes to staying on time and under budget Garbiar tells 630 CHED News "It's kind of like when you're building your house and you say sure, upgrade that - - lets add this - - the next thing you know you're way over budget and you're way off schedule. So we've got a really disciplined process in place that makes sure that when we are making changes we're making them for the right reason. And we're considering the cost and schedule implications when we do that."
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