By David Wichner | Arizona Daily Star
Big things are coming at Tucson International Airport, but don’t scan the skies for the latest jumbo jet.
Airport officials have made plans to open up thousands of acres of airport-owned land to commercial development, create new pathways for access to the airport and new commercial centers, and to boost cargo and cross-border freight operations.
The grand plans are laid out in the Tucson Airport Authority’s 2013 master-plan update for TIA, which was approved by the quasi-governmental authority’s board in May and is awaiting Federal Aviation Administration approval.
The 20-year master plan is the first update in nine years and represents the deepest dive yet into land uses around the airport.
“It’s the most in-depth land use planning we’ve ever done,” said Bonnie Allin, president and CEO of the Tucson Airport Authority since 2002.