Ports Authority lands $45.3M grant for Aguadilla airport upgrades
The Puerto Rico Ports Authority received an additional $45.3 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help complete the estimated $130 million, five-year construction of the new runway at the Rafael Hernández International Airport in Aguadilla.
“This new grant joins the one announced in September 2020 for $24.2 million from the FAA, as well as the $30 million in state funds, to carry out this significant project for the Aguadilla airport and for the entire western region of the island,” said Ports Authority Executive Director Joel A. Pizá-Batiz.
With the new grant, 100% of the federal funds and state money, Ports already has about $100 million of the $130 million that the project is estimated to cost.
This federal grant consists of $10.7 million from entitlement funds, $30 million from FAA discretionary funds, and $4.5 million through the Airport Coronavirus Response Grant Program, which covers matching funds that Ports would otherwise have to cover.
Ports is also working on the Request for Qualifications or RFQ process, evaluating the seven groups of multinational companies, as News is my Business reported. The agency hopes to start awarding contracts by the end of 2021, and hiring in the first quarter of 2022, it explained.
