AIRPORT AUTHORITY TARGETS LAX PLAN.

Byline: Staff Writer

BURBANK - The Burbank Airport Authority will try again to convince a Superior Court judge that any expansion or attempt to lure more international traffic at LAX would likely shift air traffic to its own facility.

At issue is the state-mandated environmental report necessary for the planned expansion of Los Angeles International Airport. The authority seeks to require an official environmental review of any improvements at LAX and their possible impacts on other local airports.

``We feel Los Angeles is making decisions at LAX that are designed to shift traffic to Burbank, and those effects should be analyzed under the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act,'' said Carl Meseck, president of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

The authority claims that the expansion of Tom Bradley International Terminal and LAX cargo facilities will result in an increase of short-haul flights into Burbank Airport.

Judge Dzintra Janavs ruled against the airport on that point last month, but allowed it to resubmit its argument.

Mayor Richard Riordan has been pushing for the multibillion-dollar expansion of LAX. He wants to create a flight hub capable of handling 100 million passengers annually and to double LAX's current volume of air cargo.

The Burbank Airport Authority must submit its argument by Oct. 23 in a ``cross petition'' to a case brought by Los Angeles, alleging inadequate environmental analysis of Burbank Airport projects.

The authority will ask Burbank city officials to join in making its case.

City News Service contributed to this report.