Alaska Airlines is celebrating
the $3.5 million expansion and renovation of its Nome, Alaska, airport
terminal.The project, which began in June 2006 and is nearing completion, includes
upgrades to the passenger lobby, cargo facility and ground-service
equipment area.
  “This project stems from our deep commitment to serving the Arctic,”
said Bill MacKay, Alaska Airlines’ senior vice president for the state of
Alaska. “The new terminal, along with larger, more-advanced aircraft
serving Nome, will bring greater passenger comfort, more cargo capacity and
a more reliable schedule.”
  Alaska Airlines built the Nome Airport terminal in 1985. The expansion
increases the terminal’s lobby area by nearly 1,500 square feet, or about
50 percent. The larger lobby nearly doubles the number of seats available
to customers and features artwork from one of Alaska’s most renowned
painters, Fred Machetanz.
  The airline also expanded its Nome cargo warehouse by about 30 percent
and added cold-storage cargo facilities. The carrier’s ground-service
equipment area is about 15 percent larger, and the terminal building is now
connected to city water and sewer lines. The airline will complete the
project’s weather-dependent final stage, including parking-lot paving and
cosmetic details, late this spring.
  The Nome terminal project is part of Alaska Airlines’ five-year
capital-improvement plan to upgrade many of its airport facilities
throughout the state.
  The airline also recently upgraded its fleet serving the Arctic. Many
of Nome’s three daily flights now are operated on larger 737-400
passenger-cargo combination aircraft equipped with more advance
flight-guidance systems. These aircraft provide about 20 percent more cargo
capacity and a more comfortable passenger experience than the 737-200
aircraft they replaced in January. A 737-400 freighter introduced in June
2006 also offers 50 percent more capacity on three weekly cargo flights to
and from Nome.
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