WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Aug. 3 that $16.9 million in grants would be awarded to 25 communities across the country for air service improvements. Per release, the central focus of the initiative is to enable communities to develop their own solutions to community needs and establish routes to allow people in the community to fly more easily and affordably.
“In so many of our nation’s smaller communities, local air service is crucial to residents’ lives and livelihoods,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We’re proud to award these grants to help strengthen local air service in 25 smaller communities and help Americans across the country get to where they need to go more efficiently and affordably.”
The U.S. DOT announced that Wilmington would receive $600,000 through the program, with local resources being contributed to supplement the federal support.
“This allows us to use these funds to improve service to markets that need the service so we’re looking at that now and going to see where this goes down the road,” Wilmington’s airport director Jeffrey Bourk said. “Service for the grants target service for South Florida, three airports; Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, or Miami, so we will be looking at that and looking at whether or not there’s a need for these dollars in those markets to help develop air service further.”
Per release, communities have previously utilized this grant to provide financial incentives to carriers, address challenges with current services, promote the services currently being offered, and study the possibility of expansion.
For updates and more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website.
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