The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to release an official summary of a plan as early as Monday that will ban any flights into or out of Salt Lake City International Airport during Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. It will also restrict private flights during the 2002 Winter Games.
While the airport itself will remain open, all flights coming or going will be grounded from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Feb. 8 for the opening ceremonies and Feb. 24 for the closing ceremonies.
The FAA’s plan also includes a 45-minute radius of restricted airspace around Salt Lake City that will be enforced between opening and closing ceremonies, said Mike Fergus, FAA Northwest Mountain Region spokesman. Commercial flights will be allowed to fly into that 45-mile swath, but charter flights, cargo plans and other private aircraft will be required to first land at one of four “gateway” airports in surrounding states, according to Fergus. The FAA will identify the four sites in the summary.
Planes landing at the gateway sites will undergo security checks and inspections by FAA flight standards officers, then be given a transporter code so air traffic controllers can monitor their flights into Salt Lake City. Fergus said, “when that flight takes off it will emit a certain code, and that code is only assigned to that aircraft”.
All Olympic venues will have restricted airspace stretching in a two or three-mile radius up to 18,000 feet.
Robert Flowers, Utah commissioner of public safety and the head of Olympic security, defended the air space restrictions as a necessary step in protecting the Games and said the advanced notice to airlines should minimize interruptions to flight schedules.
He said, “we tried to do this with minimal disruption. I think the public understands why we’re responding the way we are. This is not a move to inconvenience people for no reason – this is a prudent safety move. We appreciate businesses trying to make a profit in these times, but we also have to meet a balance”.
