Atlanta airport to expand security checkpoint

ATLANTA – The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport plans to expand a security checkpoint within the next year to help alleviate a crowded waiting area, officials said.

Officials expect to open five additional lanes at the South Security Checkpoint within the next year, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . This would provide nine lanes for TSA screening near Delta Air Lines’ check-in counters.

“Clearly there is a demand,” airport Deputy General Manager Greg Richardson told the newspaper. “This place is getting busier and busier, so we’ve got to find relief.”

Hartsfield-Jackson provides nonstop service to more than 150 domestic and 70 international locations, according to the airport’s website. The expansion will require passengers to exit the checkpoint where vendors currently reside, so some, such as a Minute Suites and a Georgia Lottery location, will need to relocate, Richardson said.

All four existing lanes will remain in use during the expansion. The new lanes should stretch into space Delta Air Lines previously used as an international check-in area prior to the international terminal opening in 2012. The arrangements for Clear and PreCheck lines have not been decided yet, Richardson said.

Airport officials plan to issue approximately $400 million in general airport revenue bonds for the security expansion and other projects, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Passenger facility charge-backed bonds for about $450 million in projects are expected to go toward modernizing the terminal.

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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com