Augusta Airport Braces for Influx for Master's

Mar. 30 -- It's Augusta Regional Airport's time to shine.

The Masters Tournament will bring thousands of travelers through the airport's doors starting this weekend, and officials say they're ready for the rush.

Construction on the airport's new terminal project will be suspended today to minimize disruption for passengers, according to Diane Johnston, the marketing director for the airport.

"We have stopped it to allow for every last inch of pavement," Ms. Johnston said.

A parking lot near the south side of the airport will be reopened. This is expected to smooth the traffic flow for private airplane passengers in front of the fixed base operator, Ms. Johnson said.

The main road through the airport, which has been squeezed to one lane where it passes the new terminal construction, also will be repaved and expanded to prevent crowding.

But traffic isn't limited to the ground. The air above Augusta Regional can also get crowded during Augusta's busiest week of the year, so the Federal Aviation Commission hires extra air traffic controllers.

Both of the airport's carriers, Atlantic Southeast Airlines and US Airways, will be ramping up the number of flights to the Garden City and adding direct flights to and from some destinations , including Philadelphia and New York.

The carriers also will upgrade the types of planes from the smaller turbo-props to higher-capacity regional jets.

April is the airport's biggest month for fuel sales and passengers.

In 2006, almost 12,000 more people passed through the airport in April compared with in March, airport statistics show.

That means more money for the airport, but not necessarily more convenience for the passenger.

In 2006, on-time performance for both carriers dropped by a combined total of almost 7 percent. The flight-completion rate stayed relatively the same, with a drop of less than 1 percent, according to airport statistics.

Still, officials say they're ready to help passengers in any way they can.

More airport marshals, fuel trucks, golf cart drivers and radio operators will be on hand to make sure that's the case, Ms. Johnston said.

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