The region’s two commercial airports learned Tuesday that they are receiving millions in federal grants. The Federal Aviation Administration announced that Norfolk International Airport and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport would be among the airports to receive one of 383 grants worth a total of $793.4 million.
With the exception of about $100 million in COVID-19 relief funding, much of the money is for the agency’s Airport Improvement Program, which the country’s airports are entitled to annually based on traffic and construction funding needs.
Norfolk airport will be given nearly $10.6 million to buy land for aircraft approaches and to rehabilitate its taxiway. Newport News airport will get $5 million to build a taxiway and reconstruct its lighting.
Normally, the FAA’s AIP funding covers 90% of an eligible project’s cost, and an airport uses state funding to pay for the rest, said Anthony Rondeau, Norfolk’s deputy executive director. This time, the FAA is covering the cost in full.
Both airports also received U.S. Treasury funding in April to help them weather the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on air travel. Norfolk airport got $19.8 million, and Newport News airport got $4.1 million.
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