Sarasota airport plans facility improvements

The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport will complete upgrades to its terminal thanks to a $7 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority announced today it received the grant to go toward two upcoming projects. The first is the purchase and installation of 13 new passenger bridges to replace the existing 28-year-old bridges. The second is a safety measure to eliminate a taxiway that causes pilots confusion because of its alignment, said SRQ President and CEO Rick Piccolo.

The airbridge project replaces all of the airport bridges — the movable walkway structures used to transport passengers from the airport onto the airplanes themselves — with ones that are air conditioned, have some windows and have better electrical equipment.

Over the last four years, the airport has spent about $23 million on upgrading its terminal.

“This is really the last piece of the terminal upgrade,” Piccolo said. “It enhances the (customer) experience here.”

Total costs for the two projects is about $12 million. The taxiway change will cost about $750,000 and the rest of the $7 million will go toward the bridge upgrades. The airport and Florida Department of Transportation will each contribute about $2.5 million to complete the changes.

Piccolo said the taxiway change should be complete by end of winter. The jet bridges are being fabricated now and their installation likely will start in the sprint. The projects, overall, will take about one-and-a-half years to complete.