LaGuardia To Start Using New Tower This Weekend
NEW YORK (AP) - New York's LaGuardia Airport will start using its new control tower this weekend.
The $100-million facility will replace a 46-year-old tower. The Federal Aviation Administration says it will provide air traffic controllers better visibility and technology that will help reduce flight delays.
The changeover is slated to occur with the first flight operation after midnight Sunday.
The old tower will be turned off and decommissioned.
The new tower has a ground radar system that provides controllers better information about aircraft on runways and taxiways. It also gives them transponder information about a plane's destination.
The agency that operates the airport says 22.1 million passengers used LaGuardia in 2009.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
