Budget Increase Paves Way for Improvements at Bob Hope Airport

Improvements to its passenger terminals and baggage claim areas and runway repairs at Bob Hope Airport are part of the new $107 million budget adopted Monday by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. The fiscal year 2006-07 budget is an increase of 35 percent over the current year’s budget of $79 million. Nearly half of the airport’s operating revenues – $25 million will be generated through parking fees. The total operating revenues projected are $54 million. Among the improvement projects slated for the coming year are linking two existing baggage carousels with a conveyor belt and the creation of a new baggage receiving area in Terminal A, airport spokesman Victor Gill said. The airport is also currently resurfacing its two asphalt runways, an expenditure of $9 million in the new budget, an increase over the original estimated pricetag of $6 million. “The cost of asphalt and other paving supplies in light of the spike in oil prices means it’s a much more expensive project,” Gill said.