BURBANK : Airport’s Budget Expected to Soar

A series of capital projects and land purchases during the next fiscal year will more than double Burbank Airport’s current budget, while operational and maintenance expenses should remain fairly static, according to a proposed financial blueprint unveiled Monday.

For the new fiscal year beginning July 1, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority plans a number of expenditures that will push the budget past $56.4 million, more than twice the current $24.6-million budget. The expenses include expanding baggage-claim and parking-lot capacity, as well as buying adjacent land to help with noise mitigation and safety regulation.

Airport spokesman Victor Gill said the projects will be paid for by $15 million in federal grants, $14 million in a bond issue the authority hopes to float later this year and $3 million through a facilities surcharge that will add $3 to each passenger’s round-trip ticket.

Although officials still expect to construct a new 670,000-square-foot terminal over the next decade, the improvements planned for the coming year are mainly devoted to refurbishing the current buildings, Gill said.

“Most of them are related to making the current terminal livable for the remaining years,” especially as passenger rolls continue to increase, he said.

To make the airport more attractive to airlines, the budget also envisions lower landing fees. But with a greater number of flights, the airport expects to generate about the same revenue in landing fees next year as this year.

The airport authority is scheduled to vote on the budget June 20.