{"id":22974,"date":"2018-06-04T01:30:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/northwest\/passenger-service-at-paine-field-is-seen-as-a-business-boon\/"},"modified":"2018-06-04T01:30:00","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T08:30:00","slug":"passenger-service-at-paine-field-is-seen-as-a-business-boon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/northwest\/passenger-service-at-paine-field-is-seen-as-a-business-boon\/","title":{"rendered":"Passenger service at Paine Field is seen as a business boon"},"content":{"rendered":"
EVERETT — Eager fans of the new passenger terminal at Paine Field hope the first commercial flights will take off before the winter holidays, so they can avoid the trip to Sea-Tac Airport.<\/p>\n
Today, the drive from Snohomish County to Sea-Tac Airport south of Seattle can eat up an hour and a half or more.<\/p>\n
Propeller Airports, which has invested $40 million in the project, expects the two-gate terminal will be finished and “ready to go” in September. But the Federal Aviation Administration is revisiting a 2012 assessment of the impact of the resulting additional air traffic at Paine.<\/p>\n
The supplemental environmental assessment by the FAA was prompted by intense airline interest in Everett. The initial FAA study was based on 12 daily airline departures, but three airlines have said they plan up to 24 daily departures.<\/p>\n
“We want to do this by the book and get this open,” said Propeller’s chief executive, Brett Smith.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, construction continues on the new terminal. Workers have installed soaring glass windows that overlook the ramp and afford views of the Olympic Mountains, and they are busy putting up Sheetrock.<\/p>\n
Propeller expects up to 1,700 passenger boardings per day.<\/p>\n
Smith estimates that about 70 percent of the airport’s initial traffic will be business travelers.<\/p>\n
Airline destinations, at this point, include San Diego — “helpful for the Navy,” Smith says — as well as San Francisco and San Jose. Those two cities are, of course, “gateways to Silicon Valley.” And the new airport’s proximity to Boeing’s Everett site makes it an obvious benefit for the county’s biggest private employer, he added.<\/p>\n
The airport, whose three-letter airport code is PAE, will provide a parking lot for 1,100 vehicles. The number of long term parking spaces is to be determined, Smith said.<\/p>\n
Propeller is negotiating with a Seattle-area restaurateur to operate the terminal’s restaurant. A locally run coffee bar also is planned.<\/p>\n
“We’re not including any national chains,” Smith said.<\/p>\n