City and regional leaders unveil the 20-year Master Plan for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. They include the construction of a second terminal facility, as many as 15 additional gates, an additional parking garage and an improved roadway system. Walt Leger, the president and CEO of New Orleans and Company, says all this is to improve connectivity to other cities in the country and the world, which will have wide-ranging benefits.
“Connecting communities to one another brings value. From a tourism standpoint, from a travel standpoint, but also from a business investment standpoint and from a talent, attraction and retention standpoint,” Leger explained.
Leger says it’s very important that they tackle this expansion now instead of waiting until it’s too late.
“This is the right approach for us, to plan what we’re seeing into the future and begin that work today, so that we’re not playing catch-up, but staying ahead of the trends,” Leger said.
Leger says even though New Orleans International Airport is actually in Kenner, its location actually works to its advantage.
“If you go to most places, you find the airports are even more remote than ours. Ours is really a quick trip downtown, by Uber, by taxi, by bus,” Leger noted.
The Master Plan also includes the redevelopment of the airport’s south campus.