Airport noise abatement manager Barb Schempf said Monday that the opening of the $20.5 million project should allow controllers to shift noisy late-night and early-morning takeoffs to the west - where there are fewer homes.

"We have seen a lot more complaints from residents to our northwest, since a lot more planes have been shifted down the river corridor between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.," she said. "This opening and this next test should help that."

In conjunction with the opening, the Federal Aviation Administration is conducting its sixth test of new nighttime noise procedures since spring 2003. Air traffic controllers are trying to determine the best way to handle increasing nighttime traffic. They have been testing different patterns after hours as well as shortening the nighttime hours.

Under this latest test, the east-west runway becomes the preferred takeoff runway, and the nighttime hours begin at 11 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. That's when controllers have to use different landing patterns to shift noise to less-populated areas.

The test will continue until the runway is fully open and can handle both takeoffs and landings, Schempf said.

The extension to the western end of the runway makes it 12,000 feet long. The project was undertaken to allow the airport to handle fully loaded larger planes to reach destinations such as eastern Europe and Asia. It went into partial service Sunday.

The extension won't be used for most landings until navigational aides and other instruments are installed. The work should be complete by the end of January.

The airport is spending $252 million overall on new runways. A new 8,000-foot north/south runway is due to open December 2005.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com