St. George, Utah (KuTV) — The St. George City Council met Thursday to discuss updates to the St. George Airport expansion plan, including a new control tower.

The master plan approved by the FAA was intended to achieve three goals: new routes, larger aircraft and lower airfares.

Travelers looking to leave the region currently have the choice between taking a stopover flight or driving to Las Vegas.

A major modernization of the regional airport will be the new control tower.

Currently, all air traffic control is handled via Los Angeles or Salt Lake City. This makes it difficult for the airport to accommodate new flights and larger aircraft.

The airport received $15 million from the state to complete the control tower project. When asked if the project was still within budget, city communications director David Cordero said, “It’s too early in the process to say, but our goal is to stay within the allocated budget of $15 million.”

The first step in the construction plan was to determine the location of the control tower. It will be built on the west side of the airport, near South Banded Hills Drive.

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City officials said planning for the project is only 15% complete, but they said they are still on schedule.

However, a completion date has not yet been set.

Additional work is currently being carried out on the terminal, which Cordero said is already 30% complete. This includes a new terminal lounge in the security area.

The city could not comment on what impact the expansion would have on tourism, but said: “It could mean more or the same number of visitors – perhaps more will choose to fly rather than drive.”

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