DISTRIBUTION DATE: May 10, 2007      FOR RELEASE UPON RECEIPT

NOW ARRIVING AT TIA: MORE PASSENGER AMENITIES
PEOPLE AND PLANE WATCHING, ESPRESSO ALFRESCO, AND MORE!

     Got time? Visitors to Tucson International Airport (TIA) may decide to greet guests at the airport a little earlier in the future. After all, where else can you watch planes and people, listen to live entertainment, grab an espresso alfresco, and pay for parking with your American Express card? And these are only a few of the new amenities arriving at TIA.

     Live FlightView® monitors in Welcome Lounges A and B, located in baggage claim at the base of the escalators, graphically display real time flight information using airplane icons - red for arriving and blue for departing - to track the progress of flights within a 650 mile radius of Tucson. Markers for each flight identify origin and destination, flight number, departure and scheduled arrival time.

     Also new in the Welcome Lounges are closed circuit television screens where meeters and greeters can see friends and families on the arrival walkways leading to baggage claim. In addition, Ike’s Coffee Bars, which opened in both Welcome Lounges last December, now offer alfresco with their espresso. Outside seating, and spectacular mountain views, are available on the sidewalk in front of the terminal.

     Another new customer convenience, all TAA parking lots now accept American Express, as well as MasterCard and Visa, credit cards. Rates in the hourly lot, across the street from the terminal, are $1 per half hour. Also coming later this summer will be covered parking on the second floor of the parking garage, a short walking distance from the terminal.

     Live at TIA!, Tucson Airport Authority’s new Performing Arts Program, features local musicians entertaining throughout the terminal several times each month. Go to www.tucsonairport.org for a current schedule.

     Travelers can look forward to additional terminal improvements, as part of the Concourse Renovation Project:

    . New concourse restrooms on both sides of the security checkpoints will open by mid-July, as will the Conference Center, on the third level adjacent to Jet Rock Bar and Grill, with meeting rooms available for rent.

    . The U.S. Customs & Border Protection Federal Inspection Station for international arrivals is slated to open inside the terminal on the east (A) concourse this Fall.

    . Also this Fall, expanded free WiFi comes online throughout both concourses and in hotspots in the Conference Center, as well as in the Welcome Lounges and Ike’s Coffee Bars in baggage claim. Currently free wireless Internet is available on the ticketing level in the Baskin Robbins/Cibo Express Food Court, upstairs in the Jet Rock Bar and Grill, and in the Food Courts on the concourses.

    . Reconfiguration of the security checkpoints - as well as new carpeting, wall coverings, ceilings and lighting, seating and airline gate podiums - will be completed on the east (A) concourse by late October, and west (B) concourse by January.

    . New airline ticket counters will be installed by December.

     Mark your calendars for Spring 2008. That’s when the Authority will complete the Concourse Renovation Project. This is the culmination of a major expansion of Tucson International Airport that began in 2000 and included: construction of a new roadway in front of the terminal; construction of the of the rental car facility; and addition of 82,000 sq. ft. to the ticketing and baggage claim areas of the terminal.

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