New Air Terminal Planned for LaGuardia Airport

NEW YORK (AP) -- Even as many government agencies cut back, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is pressing ahead with plans to replace the central terminal at LaGuardia Airport.

The authority authorized a $40 million study Thursday that should result in a new design for the 45-year-old terminal, which handles about 12 million passengers a year.

The study is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Construction would begin in 2011 or later. It could take as long as eight years, due in part to the difficulty of building a replacement in the ultra-cramped airport while the old building is still functioning.