This ought to fly: Continental's plans for a big expansion at Hopkins

Unambiguously fantastic news landed here Friday, when Continental Airlines unveiled plans for the biggest expansion in 10 years at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Through its $50 million investment, Continental will expand its hub by 40 percent. It expects to create 700 jobs paying an average of $25 an hour, help retain 3,200 existing jobs and lead to thousands more.

Within two years, Continental is to add more than 50 flights at Hopkins, including flights to 20 new cities. Ticketing and baggage facilities are in line for sweeping renovations to accommodate the extra business.

And Clevelanders will be relieved to know that the transformation will include bigger, more modern spaces for meeting and greeting arriving passengers, passing through security and clearing customs. (Passengers from London now find themselves crammed into what feels like a fluorescent-lit cave.)

At a press conference packed with politicians and business people, Continental Chief Executive Larry Kellner - a South Carolina native who lived briefly in Rocky River after college - noted the cooperation of and support from state and local leaders.

Mayor Frank Jackson and Gov. Ted Strickland, particularly, deserve credit for landing this deal. The state offered a package worth almost $17 million, laden with grants and loans. The city is dangling money for marketing and trimming landing fees for carriers testing new routes.

While many of Continental's competitors are shrinking, the fifth-largest airline in the world, with 45,000 workers, is targeting annual growth of 5 percent to 7 percent a year. And Continental's growth at Hopkins and elsewhere is not just domestic. Roundtrip service from Cleveland to Paris begins in the spring.

This expansion brings invaluable opportunities. Now is the time to resolve shortcomings that have long plagued the airport: untidy restrooms, substandard taxi service, uninspired retail and food choices and general shabbiness. Cleveland can't afford to leave visitors disappointed, even if they're here only for a brief layover.

What's more, passengers given attractive shopping and dining options will want to spend their money on goods and services at the airport. And that revenue boost would allow Hopkins to stop relying as heavily on landing fees.

When this investment takes flight, Continental and Greater Cleveland both will benefit.