november-december 2021 - 13

CONCESSIONS
All RSW travelers will be able to go
to any of the concourses that they
so desire for shopping, eating and
other options.
LEE COUNTY PORT AUTHORITY
Experience
" TSA has to independently manage
three checkpoints. It's not effective,
it takes a certain number of people if
you're busy or not, " Siegel said. " Being
able to go up to 16 checkpoints at one
central location will provide more
throughput than we currently have.
It will provide additional capacity in
terms of throughput, and it also give
us more queuing space in line for the
security checkpoints within the main
checkpoint. "
The consultant working on design
and planning of the RSW Terminal
Expansion Project is Atkins North
America Inc. The construction manager/
general contractor for the project is
Manhattan Construction (Florida).
The project is being funded with
grants from the Florida Department
of Transportation, Passenger Facility
Charges (PFCs), airport revenue bonds
and Lee County Port Authority construction
funds.
What is Needed
Siegel said the airport conducted
surveys in the community to figure
out what they needed to add in terms
of shopping and dining. They discovered
RSW wasn't lacking in types of
services offered, but in terms of quantity
as travelers were confined to individual
concourses.
" What we've done is we're adding
120,000 square feet of space and all of it
is being added to provide all new concepts
that this airport hasn't seen before, "
he said. " Existing concessions on the
concourses will have new concepts after
the expansion and are being refurbished.
" The entire shopping and dining
experience will be completely redefined
when all is said and done at RSW. "
Siegel said the airport's plan is to
include as much touchless technology
as possible. They're requesting and
encouraging all RSW food and beverage
providers to go along with that touchless
experience as they're shopping and
dining. They were planning to move
this direction prior to the pandemic, but
they're now accelerating these efforts.
RSW also looking at the various
types of food delivery options for the
airport as well.
" This airport is quite a bit smaller
than larger hubs so those types of
amenities may not be as desirable as
they would be in other markets, " he said.
" Plus, being an O&D market there's not
a tremendous amount of dwell time that
occurs in terms of layovers. "
Construction will
Last Three Years
The project is being carefully phased
through different times of day and year
so to not interrupt with the busiest
traffic times at the airport.
" It has got a very delicate schedule, "
Siegel said. " It's going to require a tremendous
amount of communication for
all our guests to make sure that when
they get here they know where to go
when there are changes.
" There's going to be a lot of construction
walls, there's going to be a lot of
signage, and there's going to be a lot of
people available to help our guests find
their way during this period of time. "
RSW leaders are looking towards a
post-pandemic future when the updates
are completed. While it's impossible to
predict the events of the world that can
impact airport operations, Siegel said
leaders believe the improvements will
put them on the right path to success.
" Our post-security experience has
been one that has been lacking since
day one, and we really believe this
project and changing the dynamics of
this airport from a pre-security experience
to a post-security experience is
really where things need to be for the
forseeable future, " he said. 
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 13
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november-december 2021

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