|
 The National Football League's championship game on February 2 is
expected to draw many fans who are arranging private or charter
flights into and out of the notoriously crowded airspace around New
York City.
The game is at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near
New York City.
With game tickets ranging from $500 to $2,600 a seat, the Super Bowl
draws the type of clientele that are likely to fly by private jet.
In comparison, a ticket to a regular season game at the stadium
started at $110.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects more than 1,200
private and charter planes to fly into the region in the week
leading up to the game.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates
transportation facilities in the region, said it was adding staff
and volunteers to welcome visitors at the area's three major
airports — Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy
International and LaGuardia.
At the smaller Teterboro Airport, just 2 miles from the stadium, the
Port Authority has implemented a special reservation system for
private aircraft to help manage the flow of air traffic, the agency
said.
Teterboro Airport has space to park more than 600 planes, said Port
Authority spokesman Ron Marsico, but reservations for those spaces
are going fast.
[to top of second column] |
"We're definitely busy," said Christie Emden of Atlantic
Aviation, one of five companies at Teterboro that park, fuel and
maintain private jets. "I can't even begin to tell you how full
we are at this point ... It's a work in progress."
The private aviation company NetJets, owned by Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway, said that so far 190 flights have been
booked specifically for Super Bowl travel.
"We will probably see that number grow," said Tom Hoyt, a
NetJets spokesman. "People who fly privately often don't make
plans until a couple days before."
Hoyt said he was confident all NetJets flights would be
accommodated into the region, but a bigger concern could come as
travelers leave in the hours after the game.
The FAA said it had established two no-fly zones for the day of
the Super Bowl. The first will encompass a 1 nautical-mile
radius around MetLife Stadium from noon to 4 p.m. EST. The
second will consist of a larger radius, a 30 nautical-mile ring
lasting from 4 p.m. EST until one hour after the game concludes.
Traffic in the area has been under national scrutiny recently as
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie faces a scandal that his top
aides ordered up traffic jams on a heavily traveled bridge to
New York in an act of apparent political retribution.
(Editing by Scott Malone and Amanda Kwan)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
