20 South Carolina airports to share nearly $19M in FAA grants

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Twenty airports in South Carolina will received a share of nearly $19 million in federal grants to help pay for terminal upgrades, runway repairs and other improvement projects.

More than two-thirds of the money will go to the state’s four largest airports, The Post and Courier reported.

Charleston International Airport, traditionally South Carolina’s busiest airport, is getting $2.5 million to improve taxiway lighting and and its terminal building.

ALSO READ: North Carolina airports get $283 million in COVID-19 aid

The money for terminal upgrades will help pay for design work on proposed changes as the airport studies expanding its ticket counter and adding a third wing with more gates, said Charleston airport spokesman Spencer Pryor.

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport will get $4.5 million for apron and taxiway rehabilitation and pavement sealing. Another $3.3 million will go to Columbia Metropolitan Airport for apron reconstruction. And Myrtle Beach International will get $2.2 million to remove a taxiway and rebuild it.

The remaining $6.3 million will get split between smaller county and regional airfields in South Carolina.

The South Carolina grants are among $518 million total the Federal Aviation Administration is awarding to airports across the U.S. for repairs, maintenance, improvements and new equipment.

The grants are the second round this year funding through the agency’s Airport Improvement Program. The FAA so far has awarded $1.1 billion in total grants through the program — roughly one-third of the $3.2 billion in funding available this budget year.

“In communities of all sizes, airports are vital to local economies, sustaining jobs and getting people and goods where they need to go,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “We’re pleased to announce this important funding to help improve airports around the country and better serve all Americans.”

(WATCH BELOW: Travelers stuck at Charlotte airport as flights delayed, canceled across US)