4 Puerto Rico airports get $26.2M allocation for infrastructure upgrades
Ponce’s Mercedita Airport will receive $14 million.
This funding is part of the fifth round of AIP allocations, which assigns $1.9 billion across 519 grants in 48 states, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Antonio Nery Juarbe Airport in Arecibo will receive $853,992 to rehabilitate its apron, Ponce’s Mercedita Airport will receive $3 million to rehabilitate its taxiway, the Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport in San Juan will receive $20.5 million to rehabilitate its runway, and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina will receive $1.8 million to reconstruct a taxiway and update its drainage study.
Additionally, Ponce’s Mercedita Airport will receive an extra $11 million through fiscal year 2023 Supplemental Discretionary Grants, according to the FAA.
This round of AIP grants, described by the FAA as “the largest announcement in program history,” supports a wide range of projects, including airport safety and sustainability improvements and noise reduction at airports of all sizes.
“Today, we invest in our future — enhancing safety, improving sustainability and ensuring our infrastructure meets the needs of the traveling public,” said FAA Associate Administrator for Airports Shannetta R. Griffin. “This funding helps ensure traveler safety, reduces the environmental impacts on communities, and builds more resilient airports nationally.”
The 2023 Supplemental Discretionary Grant Program provides grants for improvement projects at eligible airports, including:
- Development of resilient airfield infrastructure improvements
- Infrastructure for on-airport handling and distribution of sustainable aviation fuels
- Improving air quality at commercial service airports, even in air-quality attainment areas
- Energy and emissions sustainability projects
