FAA invests $85 million in Alaska airports

According to FAA officials, 19 airports across Alaska will receive a total of $85 million through Airport Improvement Program grants.

“Aviation is a way of life in America, and nowhere is this truer than in Alaska,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “These grants invest in the safety of Alaska’s airport infrastructure.”

A bonus: The projects in this round of funding will not have to pay the usual local match thanks to nearly $100 million in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act.

Grants include:

• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport: $7.3 million to buy snow removal equipment; update the Airport Master Plan; seal the pavement on the taxiway; refresh the taxiway and taxilane; and fix taxiway lighting.  
• Atqasuk Edward Burnell Sr. Memorial Airport: $20.7 million to repair the gravel pavement on Runway 6/24, the aircraft parking area, the taxiway to the parking apron, and other airfield improvements. Atqasuk, a remote community in northern Alaska, is solely dependent on aviation for the transportation of people, goods, and critical services.
• Bethel Airport: $34.3 million to reinforce the strength of the runway; reconstruct and rehabilitate the taxiway, airport lighting vault, emergency generator and airfield guidance signs; and buy snow removal equipment.
• McGrath Airport: $3.3 million to reconstruct the snow removal equipment building.
• Cold Bay Airport: $1.2 million to rehabilitate and expand the snow removal equipment building.
• Kaltag Airport: $9.2 million to remove non-hazardous markings and lights; rebuild the runway, the aircraft parking area and the taxiway to the parking apron; reconstruct a snow removal equipment building; install runway and taxiway lighting; and install navigational aids.
• Nenana Municipal Airport: $450,000 to develop a new Airport Master Plan.
• Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport: $3.7 million to make improvements to the seaplane base.

An additional 10 airports are receiving grants to buy snow removal equipment. Grants amounts for these airports are:

• Brevig Mission Airport: $407,189
• Chalkyitsik Airport: $407,189
• Crooked Creek Airport: $354,836
• Elim Airport: $407,189
• Holy Cross Airport: $407,189
• Hughes Airport: $407,189
• Klawock Airport: $371,356
• Kotlik Airport: $407,189
• Russian Mission Airport: $407,189 
• Valdez Pioneer Field: $698,039

The Airport Improvement Program receives approximately $3.2 billion in funding each year. The FAA plans to award more than 1,800 grants in 2021. A complete list of grants and AIP Grants Data by State is on the FAA website.