The days of going outdoors to board a plane are over at Lynchburg Regional Airport. The airport today formally unveiled its newly-installed airline passenger boarding bridge. It is more than a covered walkway — airport officials say it provides climate control for both the aircraft and for the passageway leading to it. The boarding bridge cost $922,000.
NEWS RELEASE: Lynchburg Regional Airport (LYH) formally unveiled a newly installed airline passenger boarding bridge today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the gate area of the airport’s main terminal. The $922,000 addition, the first of its kind to be used at LYH, marks a major milestone in improving the airline passenger experience at the airport. “This new boarding bridge is clearly a major step forward in comfort and convenience for the more than 180,000 airline passengers who use LYH each year,” said Airport Director Andrew LaGala, A.A.E. “This latest addition to our air carrier ramp will offer greater flexibility and added efficiency to better accommodate the kind of regional jets that currently operate at LYH.”
The new boarding bridge was designed and manufactured by Ameribridge of Indianapolis, a leading provider of passenger boarding bridges intended exclusively for the kind of ground-level boarding operations typical of smaller regional commercial airports like LYH. The fully-enclosed unit features an articulating arm that can move the bridge between two separate aircraft parking positions for enhanced versatility and parking capacity. The new bridge is fully equipped with a pre-conditioned air system to provide heating and cooling for both the aircraft and well as the interior of the bridge in order to provide convenient and all-weather access to airline aircraft serving LYH.
It also features a self-contained ground power unit (GPU) to provide temporary electrical power to an aircraft while at the gate preparing for its next flight. Funding for the passenger boarding bridge was provided through a combination of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant and Virginia air carrier entitlement funds.