STONE RIDGE, N.Y., March 21 (UPI) -- The New York-area airport planned as the region's fourth hub will never become as big as the other three, the head of the regional airports authority said.
Stewart International Airport, near Newburgh, N.Y., 55 miles north of New York, "will never be of the scale" of Kennedy International, LaGuardia or Newark Liberty International, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Anthony Shorris said.
Shorris told an economic conference that Stewart, which the agency will wrap into the New York system in October, under a $78.5 million 93-year deal signed in January, may serve 3 to 4 million passengers yearly at some point, The (Kingston, N.Y.) Daily Freeman reported.
But Kennedy currently serves more than 42 million a year, he said.
The agency has budgeted $150 million to improve Stewart, which is currently served by low-cost AirTran and JetBlue airways, as well as American, Northwest and US Airways. Delta Air Lines, which left the airport 2 1/2 years ago, plans to return in May.
Southwest Airlines has contacted Stewart about possibly beginning service, the airport said. Continental Airlines is also a prospect, travel executives said.
"In a fairly short time, you will see some of the carriers come," Shorris said.
