The FAA recently dedicated a new 118-foot-high control tower at Pennsylvania’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (KAVP). Funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it replaces the 60-year-old, 52-foot facility. The new construction also includes a base building housing a new Terminal Radar Approach Control (tracon) serving aircraft within 57 miles of the airport and up to 10,000 feet.
Both the tower and tracon are provisioned to accommodate the FAA’s Next Generation (NextGen) air traffic control system. Speaking at the dedication FAA acting administrator Michael Huerta said, “Upgrading our aviation infrastructure to support NextGen will help to maintain the world’s largest and safest aviation system.” Construction began in December 2009 and controllers moved into their new tower to begin working flights earlier this year.
