Airport Infrastructure

FAA Awards $428M Round of Grants for Airport Upgrades

Illustration by Scott Hilling/ENR, original elements by Getty Images

More funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are flowing to airports around the U.S., with the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent award of $427.8 million in grants for runway, taxiway and other upgrades.

In all, the funds, which the FAA announced on July 30, will be spread among 245 projects in 39 states.

Many projects focus on infrastructure; some will fund such non-infrastructure work as master plans, lighting and equipment.

The grants come from the IIJA’s Airport Infrastructure Grants Program, which totals $15 billion over five years.

Counting the latest batch of awards, the FAA so far has made $9 million from the program available to airports.

The largest award in this round is $77.7 million to Florida’s Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, to expand a terminal.

Other large grants include $29.4 million to John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio, for several projects, including constructing an apron and a taxiway.

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Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers is receiving $25 million, for projects that include constructing a taxiway, expanding an apron and expanding and extending a terminal and a terminal access road.

The latest round of grants comes after a round of grants announced back on July 1. That round of IIJA-derived grants for airports totaled $289 million, and went to projects at 129 airports in 40 states.

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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