EAST ELMHURST — The private group set to overhaul part of LaGuardia Airport officially took over Terminal B Wednesday after achieving $4 billion in public and private funding.
LaGuardia Gateway Partners — a consortium of Vantage Airport Group, Skanska and Meridiam — will also begin work on the project to renovate the major terminal immediately, according to officials.
The project is two-thirds funded through private money, and is the third public-private partnership from the Port Authority in the last three years, according to Executive Director Pat Foye.
"The new Terminal B will be a 21st Century facility offering a high level of customer service and amenities," he said in a statement.
The plan was approved by the Port Authority in March.
Eight airlines operate out of the major terminal, and half of the airport's travelers, more than 14 million, travel through Terminal B, officials said.
After the work is completed in 2022, there will be 1.3 million square feet of new terminal and the world's first dual pedestrian bridges that cross airplane taxi lanes.
LaGuardia Gateway Partners will operate at the airport until at least 2050.
Dual passenger walkways will go over as planes taxi for takeoff, the first in the world, officials said. (Credit: LaGuardia Gateway Partners)
Renderings of the revamped runways at Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the area beneath the pedestrian walkways. They will be taxiways, not runways.
