By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Beginning Aug. 1, the price of a ticket in and out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will rise $1.50.

On Monday, the board overseeing the airport approved the hike from the current $3 passenger facility charge, a per-ticket fee used to help pay for expanding capacity at airports.

The airport had already received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to raise the fee to the maximum $4.50. Revenue from the higher fee will be used to help pay for a new 8,000-foot runway and the 2,000-foot extension to another existing runway.

That project is already under way, and is expected to cost $370 million, including $237 million in construction and land acquisition costs and $133 million in financing fees. The new runway space is set to open in late 2005.