--

Mar. 10--Charlotte/Douglas International Airport plans to begin design work next month on a 120-foot extension of Concourse E, giving US Airways Express access to four new gates.

After that $3 million project is finished in early 2011, the airport plans to build two new international gates at the end of the concourse. The international gates would be an addition to the concourse, which is used primarily as a home for regional jets.

US Airways recently told the airport it will add six new flights to two of its banks of departures, which prompted the expansion.

LS3P, which designed the other sections of the concourse, was awarded a $125,700 design contract by Charlotte City Council last month for the extension. Airport aviation director Jerry Orr said construction will begin in May.

US Airways, whose largest hub is in Charlotte, recently expanded international service out of Charlotte/Douglas. It has added a nonstop flight to Rio de Janeiro and Paris and will begin nonstop service to Rome this spring. The airline would like to fly nonstop to Sao Paulo, Brazil, but that is contingent upon a complicated deal between US Airways and Delta for gates and landing rights in New York and Washington, D.C.

Orr said he didn't have specific information on new international flights by the airline. But he said he's "reading the tea leaves" and believes more international service will be coming.

That prompted him to change the original design of Concourse E to add the two international gates, which will be built to accommodate Airbus A330 wide-body planes.