These PA Airports To Get $30.6M In Federal Funds For Terminal Upgrades

PENNSYLVANIA — Philadelphia International Airport is among more than 100 across the country, including four in Pennsylvania, receiving a combined $970 million in federal funding to make terminal improvements, the Transportation Department said Thursday.

The $20.4 million grant to the Philadelphia airport will partially fund HVAC and electrical efficiency upgrades and improvements to the facility’s terminals, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Pittsburgh International Airport will also receive $5.3 million to fund the construction of a new 700,000-square-foot landside terminal building, while Harrisburg International Airport will receive $7.5 million to replace up to six passenger boarding bridges.

Finally, Lancaster Airport is slated to receive $2.7 million to fund terminal improvements including the expansion of the existing passenger screening and hold room areas.

The airport terminal funding, provided under bipartisan infrastructure legislation passed in late 2021, will be distributed to 114 airports in 44 states and three territories for terminal projects that improve passenger experience, lower the cost of travel and create competitive jobs.

Projects vary from creating new baggage systems to enlarging security checkpoints to expanding gate capacity, and modernizing terminals and ground transportation, according to the announcement by the Transportation Department.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the improvements “will make it easier for passengers to get to and through airports, create jobs, and increase safety for all.”

The awards are on top of the nearly $2 billion for airport terminals announced by the Transportation Department over the past two years. Most of those terminal projects are under construction.

The funding comes from the Airport Terminal Program, one of three aviation programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.