The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) this week moved closer to securing future funds to improve and expand Orlando International Airport (MCO) as the GOAA board boosted its annual budget to $4.13 billion, a $554.5 million increase.
Enabling the ambitious slate of projects is funding available through the federal government’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Included in the BIL is a five-year, $25 billion investment in the nation’s air transportation system, $20 billion of which will be administered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Airports. Through Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG), $15 billion will be available over a five year period and allocated by formula to the nation’s airports. An additional $5 billion will be earmarked to upgrade, modernize and rebuild the nation’s airport terminals on a competitive basis.
“Securing this funding will be instrumental in restarting several delayed South Terminal C projects,” said Kathleen Sharman, GOAA chief financial officer. “We are optimistic that our projects will meet the competitive grant award criteria. Taking this first step to approve this CIP will enable us to secure additional funds to keep moving forward.”
At MCO, the capital funding includes $250 million for the South Terminal C (STC) project, $60 million for a rental car quick turnaround facility, $11.4 million for a pedestrian bridge in the ground transportation facility and $83.13 million in North Terminal improvements.
BIL funding, through allocated AIG and competitive Airport Terminal Program (ATP) grants, will cover nearly $362 million of the proposed MCO expenditures. The remainder of the funds will come from a combination of Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) grants, Passenger Facility Charges (PFC) and Customer Facility Charges (CFC).
