Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport will receive $360,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for airport upgrades. The funding will be used to design the rehabilitation of the airport’s runway. Once rehabilitated, this project would ensure safer airfield operations at the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport by improving the structural integrity of the pavement and removing foreign object debris from the runway. The runway has not undergone redevelopment in roughly sixteen years.
“I am pleased to add this federal investment to the list of ‘arrivals’ at Ithaca Tompkins Regional airport,” said Senator Schumer. “We should always strive to achieve the highest standards of aviation safety, and this funding will support that goal by repairing and upgrading the runway at Ithaca Tompkins.”
“Airport safety should always be a top priority,” said Senator Gillibrand. “These federal dollars will help support infrastructure upgrades to improve the Ithaca Tompkins Regional airport, ensuring better, safer service for the thousands of New Yorkers they serve per year.”
“This is really good news. I want to thank the Senators for their support of aviation,” said Robert Nicholas, Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport Manager. “The last time any major work was done on our (only) runway was in 1998. Wear and tear of the runway, caused particularly by the hard winters we experience in upstate New York, has brought the runway to a condition where it will need to be completely rehabilitated, full length and full width in 2015 and this is a necessary step to get to that end.”
The Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport services 50,000 aircraft operations per year, with scheduled air service from major airlines servicing nearly 250,000 passengers per year. This funding provided for the airport is part of the Airport Improvement Program and is administered by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Airport Improvement Program provides grants to public agencies for the planning and development of public-use airports that are included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). Funds obligated for the AIP are drawn from the Airport and Airway Trust fund, which is supported by user fees, fuel taxes, and other similar revenue sources.