Now Voyagers
Jones & Pertierra

They made it happen. As folks celebrated launch of Cathay Pacific all-cargo service to Atlanta, and first direct air service from Georgia, USA to Hong Kong, key players in landing the flights to Atlanta were jubilant.
Pictured left to right: Stephen Wong, Cathay Pacific Vice-President Cargo, The Americas, Tom Wright, Senior Vice President, Americas, Bob Pertierra, Vice President Logistics Industry Development, Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Ron Mathison, Cathay Pacific Director & General Manager Cargo, Robert Kennedy, Manager Marketing & Intergovernmental Affairs, Hartsfield Jackson International Airport and Warren Jones, Aviation Development Manager, Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.

 The busiest airport in the USA is HJ Atlanta International.
   The most concentrated group of top flight companies anywhere are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
   Last November Cathay Pacific Airways dedicated a new generation B747-400 Atlanta/ Hong Kong, launching a new era as the Golden City of the USA Southeast began offering service to the world’s most populous country.
   Now with an eye to not losing a beat, Jones and Pertierra are out to make sure that no stone lies unturned in their zeal to attract new business.
   “The Southeast is the fastest-growing region in the United States, and the aggregate gross domestic product of seven Southern states would be the fourth-largest economy in the world,” Bob Pertierra said.
   "We have a lot of competition, but Atlanta has a lot of great things to offer," Jones adds.
   "We have the lowest operating costs, the location and connectivity to Latin America, Europe and Asia, and more flights than any other U.S. city gateway."
   With all the claims being made about greatness HJAIA is building right now toward handling 121 million passengers by 2015.
   Esthetically Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport is really quite beautiful and modern in every respect.
   Passenger amenities are striking, with ample usage of empty places on walls and corridors for public displays of sculpture and paintings.
   It seems that everywhere you look, while traveling through the place, there is art, either generated by local school kids, up and coming Americans, or artists from around the world.
   One display of sculpture from Zimbabwe located between two electronic moving walkways carrying people to and from aircraft is among the finest combinations of art, architecture and public space on display at any airport on earth.
   February is Black History Month in the United States and HJIA is marking the month with mini concerts staged every Thursday inside the passenger terminal Atrium.
   The musical offerings range from contemporary jazz to rhythm and blues.
   In addition to the live entertainment, two exhibits include a collection of photographs featuring images of the late Coretta Scott King capturing Ms. King’s commitment to social reform and family.
   Also a set of bus seats from the civil rights protest era is on display.
   “Our Atrium Music Series is designed to bring rich, vibrant musical entertainment to airport passengers and enhance their travel experience,” Ben DeCosta said.
   “Yeah, and while the music played the fried chicken, biscuits and cream gravy served up here like no other airport, completed the dinner/concert series between flights.”
   Less than eight years ago in 1998, the airport became the world's busiest airport at 73.5 million passengers and while the numbers have continued upward, new construction to meet demand has accelerated as well.
   Last year as HJAIA celebrated 80 years of service, Manager Ben DeCosta recalled a speech from 1974 delivered by Mayor Maynard Jackson who said:
   “We stand not so much as a gateway to the South, but as a gateway to a new time, a new era, a new beginning for the cities of our land.”
   Mr. DeCosta adds:
   “Hartsfield-Jackson is the economic engine that has long driven the growth of not only Atlanta, not only the state of Georgia, but also the entire southeastern region of the continental United States.
   “Operators who do business here are well positioned amidst the key links in local, regional, national and international trade.”
   For the record, Hartsfield-Jackson has grown from 3 million international passengers in 1996 to more than 7 million in 2005.
   With 89 million passengers in 2005 more people used Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport last year than any other airport in the history of flight.
   Hartsfield-Jackson now features direct flights from Atlanta to Moscow and Hong Kong among other destinations, and in fact provides direct service to 203 cities in 37 countries.
   “Hartsfield-Jackson’s role will only increase as a global connector,” Mr. DeCosta said.
   Hartsfield-Jackson has embarked on a massive capital improvement project that is supporting continued growth.
   The airport development program is the largest scale project of its kind right now in the United States.
   The goal of this 10-year, $6.2 billion capital improvement program is to accommodate future forecasted growth through delay reduction and increased aircraft capacity.
   The most prominent component is the construction of the new runway.
   Hartsfield-Jackson’s 5th runway that opens for business on May 27, 2006 has been described as “the most important new runway in the United States.”
   Put another way, the ability to handle more business is about to be a real plus for air traffic up and down the entire east coast of the USA.
   Another plus that Messers Jones and Pertierra will surely talk up is the fantasy of road, rail, and sea access that gateway Atlanta offers and the unduplicated room to grow that still exists at the airport.