Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Receives $600,000 in Federal Funding for Infrastructure Projects

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport will benefit from nearly $600,000 in federal funding for infrastructure projects delivered through a pair of grants.

Both grants, one totaling $334,524 and the other $241,300, were awarded as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Airport Infrastructure Grant program. Created under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that former President Joe Biden signed into law in late 2021, the AIG program provides funding for airport runways, taxiways, and safety and sustainability investments, as well as terminal, airport-transit and roadway projects, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

A plane owned by Marywood University for its aviation program is parked outside of a hangar at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Twp. Monday, June 23, 2025. ( SEAN MCKEAG /STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, that legislation allocated $20 billion in new federal spending over a five-year period for airport infrastructure. The AIG program complements two other grant programs developed to administer the federal funding.

The nearly $335,000 federal AIG grant U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., announced Friday supports a broader project extending the existing “Taxiway B” at AVP, the local airport’s FAA code name, by 1,200 feet, a press release notes. It specifically supports some security gate work associated with the relocation of an air-traffic-control access road, AVP Director of Engineering Steve Mykulyn said.

“It’s a multiphase project as you can imagine,” he said of the taxiway extension. “The entire project was approximately $20 million. This most-recent portion was to handle some coordination that we needed to do with an access road that we have for our FAA tower, and the relocation of that road and the security gates that needed to be put in for that road. So that’s what that funding satisfied — that portion of the work that we needed to do in order to implement the overall taxiway extension project.”

Airport Director Carl Beardsley Jr. called it an important project, noting airport officials appreciate Bresnahan’s support.

“He’s been here and we’ve had a great relationship, and we look forward to more in the future,” Beardsley said.

A private plane is parked outside of a hangar at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Twp. Monday, June 23, 2025. ( SEAN MCKEAG /STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

The $241,300 AIG grant, meanwhile, supports the initial phase of the airport’s “structural integrity initiative” rehabilitating more than 55,000 square yards of airport apron pavement, per the release. The apron area “supports the loading, unloading, refueling and maintenance of aircraft,” it notes.

“That’s for the design of an apron-rehabilitation project,” Mykulyn said of the grant, noting the current apron pavement is nearly 20 years old. “So we’re looking to do a rehabilitation of the asphalt pavements and we’re looking to extend some of our concrete hardstands, which are the areas that the aircraft actually park on when they’re at the gates.”

Bresnahan’s release describes the federal investments as a “significant win” for the region.

“By funding vital infrastructure projects, we are bringing taxpayer dollars home and laying the groundwork for long-term improvements at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport,” he said. “Modern, well-maintained facilities not only enhance air travel but also strengthen the region’s economy and connectivity.”

The funding coincides with an ongoing trend of increased passenger activity at AVP, where total boardings last year increased by nearly 31% compared to the year prior. Passenger boardings there in April increased 26.4% compared to April 2024, Beardsley said at May’s bicounty airport board meeting.

The board, made up of officials from Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, next meets Thursday morning at the airport in Pittston Twp.

A plane takes off at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Twp. Monday, June 23, 2025. ( SEAN MCKEAG /STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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