Hobby Airport is Now Even Closer to International Service
30-Sep-2013 Houston Mayor Annise Parker joined representatives from Southwest Airlines for a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, celebrating the beginning of construction on a new $156 million international terminal at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU).
Once completed, the five-gate facility will accommodate regional international flights for Southwest Airlines, with service reaching destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and the northern cities of South America.
Mayor Paker, as well as local and state dignitaries, joined Southwest Airlines employees in the brief ceremony before work immediately began.
"Establishing international air service at William P. Hobby Airport will benefit Houston passengers in a variety of different ways, including increasing competition, boosting the local economy and strengthening the ties that already exist with our friends in Latin America," says Mayor Parker. "And perhaps the best news of all, it comes at no expense to the Houston taxpayer."
The terminal project, fully funded by Southwest Airlines, includes a new five-gate international terminal, expansion of the existing security checkpoint, and upgrades to the Southwest Airlines ticketing counter area.
"With this new international terminal, we are not only literally breaking ground at Hobby Airport, we are charting new territory for our company and for low cost and high value air travel," said Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines. "This will be Southwest's first international terminal in our 43-year history and we look forward to bringing lower fares and more international flights to a city that could benefit from increased competition."
A 2012 study commissioned by the Houston Airport System indicates that the new terminal will generate more than 10,000 jobs across the Greater Houston metropolitan area and will provide an economic impact of $1.6 billion. The study estimates that the terminal will bring in an additional 1 million passengers per year at Hobby Airport.
In support of the project, and in anticipation of the expected increase in passenger traffic, the Houston Airport System will be making significant investments of its own, constructing a new multi-level parking garage and making improvements to the existing roadway system.
"The partnership that exists between Southwest Airlines and the city of Houston dates back to the earliest days of the company," says Houston Aviation Director Mario C. Diaz. "It's a partnership that was nurtured by both sides in the second half of the 20th century and now it's poised to produce a great many benefits to our mutual customers in the 21st century."