CHS airport receives $12.2M grant from FAA

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Charleston International Airport has received a $12.2 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to help improve the airport’s access roads, part of the FAA’s second allotment in the $3.18 billion Airport Improvement Program.

Charleston Executive Airport received $2.15 million to rehabilitate its runway and taxiway lighting, and Mount Pleasant Regional Airport received $203,000 to help construct a 22,000-square-foot hangar that will accommodate 18 aircraft.

The Charleston-area airports’ funding was the majority of the $16.4 million awarded to S.C. airports in this round of the program. Anderson Regional Airport received $650,000 to update its master plan and acquire an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle; and Oconee County Regional Airport received $1.15 million to help relocate a roadway and remove dirt from the top of a hill where it obstructs clearance for approaching aircraft.

“This significant investment in airport improvements in South Carolina will fund construction and rehabilitation projects that will help maintain high levels of safety in U.S. aviation,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a news release.

The FAA awarded a total of $495 million of grants in this allotment to 327 airports in 46 states and the Pacific islands.

Some of the largest grants were a $65 million grant to Chicago O’Hare International Airport to partially reimburse the construction of two new runways; $20 million to Atqasuk Edward Burnell Sr. Memorial Airport in Alaska to fund runway, taxiway and apron rehabilitation; and $13 million to San Diego International Airport to rehabilitate several taxiways.