VIPA Receives $820,000 Grant for King Airport Study and Pavement Maintenance Plan

Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. said this weekend that the V.I. Port Authority has received official notification that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved an $819,851 grant to conduct a passenger terminal study and pavement maintenance management plan at the Cyril E. King Airport. 

VIPA received the official notification last Thursday from the FAA that the grant application had been approved.

de Jongh said that although the CEKA terminal's design is fairly modern, the facility handles almost three times the amount of passengers since its construction in 1990. "The terminal study will address ways to improve passenger processing through the TSA and U.S. Customs areas, the concession areas, the baggage claim area, airport ground transportation and improving the overall arrival and departure experience for travelers." The study will examine the entire terminal foot-print and recommend a reorganization/expansion plan to include expansion in phases and a financial program to fund the improvements, he said.

“In addition to the passenger terminal study, the grant provides funding for a pavement management systems program to plan for future pavement reconstruction projects of the CEKA runway and taxiways. The program will identify short-term and long-range maintenance and rehabilitation requirements, along with maintenance policies and a budget for maintenance costs,” said VIPA Executive Director Kenn Hobson. He said further that pavement management plan will provide VIPA with a maintenance schedule for the King runway which is currently being completely overlaid, and maximize the consistency and reliability of the runway pavement for another 20 years. VIPA received a $14.2 million Airport Improvement Projects grant from the FAA in 2009 to completely resurface of the CEKA runway. This project began in March and should be completed by December 31, 2010.

The Port Authority applied for $863,000 from the FAA to fund the projects. The approved amount of the grant is made up of discretionary funds from the FAA. The FAA funding covers 95 percent of the costs and VIPA will cover the remaining five percent.

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