Share story

NEWBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Stewart International Airport will undergo a $30 million expansion.

Under a measure approved Thursday by the board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a customs inspection area will be built to accommodate domestic and international passengers simultaneously at the Hudson Valley airport.

The airport lacks a dedicated area to process international travelers. That’s handled by using a moveable wall to section off part of the terminal.

The expansion is expected to create 140 jobs.

The board also gave the go-ahead for a name change to better market the airport and gave the OK to build a new hangar dedicated to private planes.

Officials said last year nearly 450,000 commercial airline passengers used Stewart. That was up from approximately 275,000 total passengers in 2016.