U.S. Customs and Border Protection now located at all HPN private terminals
September 28, 2023 at 1:26 a.m.
Residents fearful of expansion at Westchester County Airport (HPN) have a newly enhanced powerful player to contend with—the Federal Government.
And this time it’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection—CBP—a presence at HPN’s private terminals for years which has recently enhanced its services.
In an e-mail and telephone exchange, the public affairs specialist for CBP’s New York Field Office, Anthony Bucci, told the Westmore News that their HPN office, which has been housed in the Signature Fixed Base Operating Facility (FBO), since 1992, has, since June 2023, begun “a remote processing pilot program where CBP Officers process international arriving flights within the confines of other FBOs. The current pilot is exclusive to just Westchester County Airport.”
CBP’s expansion to include customs and immigration services at all FBO’s at HPN came to light in a publicity release from Million Air, whose new terminal and efforts to expand its hangar facilities have sparked fears amongst airport watchdogs of “LaGuardia North” coming to HPN.
According to Roger Woolsey, CEO of Million Air, “previously, all flights were required to first stop and clear at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office in an alternate FBO. Now, with the start of a pilot program, aircraft can have U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents conveniently clear customers on the Million Air ramp and be processed onboard with mobile technology.”
"This new advancement in service will create a much more seamless and efficient experience for our international travelers,” added Woolsey. “Upon landing and arriving in their aircraft, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents will meet them at the aircraft’s ramp. The travelers will have already been pre-cleared, pre-safety checked, and pre-vetted, so it is a much quicker and easier process to just go through the aircraft and obtain clearance.”
Million Air says it’s in the process of modifying one of their ground-floor conference rooms to serve as a dedicated space for CBP’s purposes.
As the Million Air statement indicates, the new CBP presence makes HPN and its private terminals an extremely attractive first stop for international private and corporate jets, with an unknown number but countless additional private flights from overseas using the airport.
What about the main terminal?
The short-term use by Breeze Airways of its brand new transcontinental A220-300 jets which allowed non-stop service from HPN to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) begs the question: if you drew a concentric circle of 2,300 miles with HPN at the center, how many other international locations could be served with A220-300 non-stop service?
It could mean that commercial airline flights from all Canadian cities, the Caribbean, and Central and South America could be serviced at HPN.
When asked if CBP could quickly set up shop at the main terminal with Customs and Border Protection agents and their equipment, Bucci replied: “If there’s international flights coming in, you’re going to be processed just as you would coming in to JFK… We have to work with the terminal so we can process everything in a sterile environment. The short answer is: Yes.”
CBP’s ability to handle anything at the main (commercial) terminal (any extra staff needed would be dispatched from other posts in the New York Metro area to handle the flights) prompted this question to County Executive George Latimer through Communications Director Catherine Cioffi: “Would you welcome CBP at the main terminal and assure or arrange for them to have the space they might need should an airline request it?”
As of press time, Cioffi had failed to respond.
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