Aviation View | April 2021

41 AVIATION VIEW APRIL 2021 I THACA TOMPK INS INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT the Director – a position I’ve enjoyed for the past seven years.” ITH has had quite a makeover during that period of time. The most significant project, completed in Dec. 2019, was a $40 million expansion of the terminal and the building of a customs facility. That upgraded the designation from Regional Airport to Ithaca Tompkins International Airport. Hall reports, “We got the project done in three phases. That’s the good news. And we were 20 percent up, in terms of traffic, a year ago in January. Then, of course, the pandemic arrived in our backyard. But as soon as the vaccine gets out there, we are very well positioned to recover quickly and we’ll have lots of brand new infrastructure.” The new terminal is a beautiful sight to behold, with four jet bridges, two ground gates, and a thoroughly modern portal. Ithaca is colloquially referred to as “centrally isolated,” since it doesn’t have an interstate, or a rail system, or steamships Airport Director, Mike Hall