On Monday, we talked about why communities are so eager to get commercial air service.
Here is some info in case you’d like to follow up on the story.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a program that provides government grants for improvements at the nearly 3,400 airports covered under the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). NPIAS airports are ones the FAA considers significant to national air transportation.
Grants given under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) help fund infrastructure development projects that will keep NPIAS facilities up to current design standards and add capacity to congested airports. The program was funded at $3.5 billion in fiscal year 2014, and a complete list of projects funded in FY 2013 are here. States are required to provide a 10 percent to 25 percent funding match in order to receive an AIP grant. Two states — Arkansas and Louisiana — recently announced they had received AIP grants to fund airport projects.
Arkansas will spend $4.1 million to pay for facility upgrades and expansions at eight airports across the state. These projects include: $2.2 million for Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to widen a taxi lane that will allow larger planes to access the concourse and to pay for a a terminal expansion; and Paris Municipal Airport will receive $486,000 to rehabilitate and widen its runway.
Louisiana received $13.32 million in AIP grants to fund projects including: $7 million to Alexandria International Airport for an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle, runway signs and perimeter fencing; $1.68 million for Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport to install perimeter fencing; and $1.5 million to Lafayette Regional Airport to rehabilitate its runway.
