FAA awards Tampa International Airport more than $5 million in grants

Tampa International Airport is receiving more than $5 million in infrastructure grants from the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program (AIP).

AIP grants fund airport projects such as runways, taxiways, lighting, markings, signage and more to strengthen U.S. aviation infrastructure. The federal grants pay a portion of eligible airport projects each year and are funded by taxes on airplane tickets and aviation fuel and other fees.

TPA is receiving $2.1 million to purchase and install a temporary flood barrier that can be deployed around the airfield's electrical/lighting vault buildings to ensure power to airfield lighting on the main runways can remain on during potential storm-surge and flooding events. These vaults sit next to the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Facility near Airside A. The AIP grant will offset a large portion of the project's $2.8 million budget. Design work on the project is scheduled to begin in October 2024.

The Airport also was awarded more than $3 million for grading improvements at runway and taxiway safety areas across the TPA campus. The work will address turf buildup, drainage issues, and asphalt restoration. The project is budgeted to cost almost $4.1 million and design work also is scheduled to start in October 2024.

Both projects are part of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority's Fiscal Year 2025 Capital Improvement Program.

Tampa Executive Airport also received an AIP grant for $2.45 million to help with a runway and ramp rehabilitation budget to cost about $14.5 million. That project is included in the Aviation Authority's Fiscal Year 2024 budget, and also received an FAA grant for $813,000 last month that was part of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding.

To learn more about the AIP, go to the FAA's website here: https://www.faa.gov/airports/aip/2024_aip_grants