Williams Gateway Airport, which was Williams Air Force Base a decade ago, has recently completed a $4-million investment into the airport to create its first passenger terminal. It's hoped that the airport will one day challenge Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which sits 25 miles to the west near downtown Phoenix.

The terminal has everything an airline could want, except passengers. The Williams Gateway Authority spent state and federal money to turn a former Air Force training facility into the terminal, complete with four gates, modern security systems, space for rental car companies, cafes and shops. The 24,000-sf terminal is large enough to handle at least 250,000 passengers annually.

Although the authority has been marketing the airport for the past few years, not a single airline has yet to offer passenger flights out of the airport. But authority officials are optimistic that a major or a regional airline will begin offering passenger flights out of there now that the terminal has been completed.

There has been a lot of interest, but airlines are reluctant to be the first to offer flights, say Marie Frank, director of marketing for the airport. Authority officials are so confident that passengers will one day grace the airport that they have plans to build a 300,000-sf second terminal on the east side of the airport.

It's not that the airport is without activity. Just east of Gilbert in the East Valley, the facility handles about 200,000 cargo and military training flights a year.

Phoenix's Sky Harbor accommodated 35 million passengers in 2000 and expects to serve 58 million annually by 2015. The airport just added a third runway and is proposing changes in flight patterns that are sure to provoke objections from some residents, as it works it way through the approval process.

Earlier this week Governor Jane Hull signed into law a bill that gives military airport greater control over the developments around them. The new law is aimed at curtailing residential development near the base, to avoid noise and security complaints by residents that may cause the military to close bases. The law was created primarily to protect Luke Air Force Base, which is in the heart of the rapidly growing West Valley.