Philly airport clears hurdle to expansion

PHILADELPHIA — A long-awaited multibillion-dollar expansion of Philadelphia International Airport cleared a major roadblock Wednesday with the resolution of a dispute involving a neighboring township.

Officials said agreements between the city of Philadelphia and Tinicum Township, Interboro School District and Delaware County will resolve lawsuits over the issue.

Airport officials said provisions will allow the expansion to move forward without the need to acquire 72 homes and relocation of about 300 Tinicum residents. The parties announced an agreement in principle in May, and the agreements were signed Wednesday. Under the agreement, the airport will resume payments to the other parties that ceased after a previous agreement expired in 2007.

The expansion includes a 1,500-foot extension of a runway to accommodate larger aircraft to travel longer international routes, as well as interior renovations, a new car rental facility and a people-mover to speed passenger access between terminals.

The work is to be completed in phases over 12 to 15 years at the airport, which sees more than 30 million travelers every year.

Toyota remains in top spot for sales

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. is still at the top in global vehicle sales after the first quarter, selling 2.52 million vehicles around the world.

The Japanese automaker has been the world’s top-selling automaker for the past three years. The numbers, released today, list top No. 2 Volkswagen Group of Germany at 2.49 million vehicles for the January-March period.

Volkswagen edged out U.S. automaker General Motors, which reported global sales of 2.4 million vehicles earlier this week. Volkswagen announced its figures last week.

Toyota’s sales were down 2 percent from a year ago, as vehicle sales in Japan lagged. Volkswagen’s sales were up 1.8 percent on year, while GM’s were up 1.9 percent.

By The Associated Press