Falls Airport Receives Aid

Feb. 15—The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) will receive more that $7.6 million in federal aid to help deal with pandemic-related costs sustained by both the Niagara Falls International Airport and the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.

The federal funds are part of a more than $36.5 million aid package for upstate New York airports that was contained in COVID relief legislation approved by the Congress late in December.

The aid was announced by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). The funding will be directed to specific airports in an effort to address what has become a crisis in the air travel industry.

"Air travel is vital to the connectivity and success of the upstate economy, which is why, as New York battles a second wave of the pandemic, I fought tooth and nail in negotiations to get airports the funding they need to keep services running," Schumer said. "Airports serve important functions in many communities, especially in more rural areas, connecting people to the rest of the world and allowing for economic opportunities to land."

The legislation directs $1,444,471 to the Falls airport, while $6,203,402 is targeted for the Buffalo facility.

"We are so grateful to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, who fought hard for this funding, it will be a lifeline for our aviation operations," said Kim Minkel, NFTA executive director. "With our passenger traffic down approximately 85 percent due to COVID coupled by the U.S. and Canadian border closure, this money will ensure we can continue to provide aviation services to those traveling to and from Western New York and that our airports will be well positioned to play a critical role in the communities post-pandemic economic recovery."

Both the Falls and Buffalo airport operations suffered dramatic drops in revenues and passenger traffic in 2020. A drop in the number of flights as well as the number of passengers taking off from the airports has affected every one of the NFTA's revenue streams.

From parking to concessions sales, the authority's books have been awash in red ink.

While passenger traffic at BNIA was down about 85 precent from 2019 levels, the numbers of the Falls airport were worse. The Falls airport which serves more seasonal and tourism driven traffic than the larger Buffalo facility saw passenger traffic decline by more than 87 percent in 2020.

"As New Yorkers continue battling the COVID-19 crisis, we cannot leave airports behind, Gillibrand said. "Airports, travel, and tourism will be a critical part of our economic recovery and these federal dollars will help airports across upstate New York continue providing high-quality and safe transit when travel takes off."

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