U.S. Secretary of Transportation Gives the Signal for the First Operation on Sea-Tac Airport's New Third Runway

Delays Expected to be Cut Fivefold

The Port of Seattle unveiled the new third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport today with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation giving the signal for the first operation, a departure by Alaska Airlines flight #674 to Denver, at approximately 3:47 p.m. With the departure the third runway is now active and expected to reduce arrival delays by up to eighty percent.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters flew across the country to open three new runways across the country today, first in Dulles (Washington , D.C.), the O'Hare (Chicago) and finally at Sea-Tac. The runways are the latest in a series of measures the taken to improve air travel.

Minutes after the first departure, United flight #197 became the first arrival aircraft to touchdown on the third runway. In a totally unplanned coincidence, the United flight originated at Dulles, traveled to Chicago and then landed at Sea-Tac, the location of the three new runways opened today.

For the Port of Seattle, the opening of the third runway is expected to cut flight delays from an average of 10 minutes to 2.5 minutes.

“This is a significant success for the Port of Seattle,” said John Creighton, Port of Seattle Commission President . “The runway is expected to save over 5 million gallons of fuel for airlines and over 50,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year. Most importantly, it will reduce delays and save millions of dollars for airlines as well as time for passengers.”

The third runway was built to reduce arrival delays during lower visibility weather at Sea-Tac, which occurs about 44 percent of the year. Previously, the two runways at the airport were too close together to allow two streams of traffic to arrive during these conditions. The third runway is far enough away from the easternmost runway to allow two streams of traffic to occur in virtually all weather conditions.

“Today is a remarkable day, a milestone for our organization,” said Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani. “The third runway will be a major economic force for the region for years to come.”

The current projected cost of the runway is $1.013 billion, about $115 million dollars less than the approved budget for the project.

Sea-Tac Airport 's third runway is 8,500 feet long, 150 feet wide and 17 inches thick. It required 130,000 cubic yards of concrete and 35,000 tons of asphalt (for the runway shoulders). It is designed to last 40 years. Construction included paving the new runway and eight connecting taxiways. The runway designation is 16R/34L.