CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON JFK CARGO TERMINALS

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON JFK CARGO TERMINALS    Construction has begun on two cargo facilities at JFK International Airport in New York. Totaling 435,000 square feet, the former sites of Hangars 8 and 9A will be completed in June 2003, and comprise the largest cargo facility project in the airport’s history.
   The $161-million project will be financed through tax-exempt, special airport facility revenue bonds issued by the New York City Industrial Development Agency, and is underwritten by UBS PaineWebber. Lufthansa Cargo, Alliance Airlines, Cargo Service Center and Lufthansa Technik will be the tenants for the new sites.
   Both terminals will have direct access to the Van Wyck Expressway, and will include 343,855 square feet of cargo warehouse on 42 acres. Construction will allow for a 150-foot clearspan (column-free) and 24-foot high ceiling in each facility, with 101 truck docks and enough space to accommodate six Boeing 747 freighters.
   “These faculties will provide improved services to companies currently operating at the airport, and will attract new air cargo carriers and related businesses to JFK,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was accompanied by Gov. George Pataki and representatives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at a ceremony to commemorate the construction project.
   Korean Air and United Airlines have already finished new buildings in the same sector of the airport.