The New Castle Airport will get infrastructure improvements through a federal grant.
Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons recently announced the $5.4 million grant contributing to new taxiway construction at the airport.
The Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) notes more than 48 million dollars has been invested in the facility over the past 10 years.
Carper said airport improvements, which are paid for by a mix of local, state and federal funding, help the state’s economy.
“We create an environment that sustains and helps to grow jobs, and part of that is having good infrastructure in transportation," he said. "Not just roads, highways and bridges, but rail, ports and airports, and this is going to make this airport a better airport.”
DRBA’s executive director Tom Cook credits Delaware’s Congressional delegation for helping get this grant funding. The authority hopes the improvements will attract a commercial airline back to the airport. Frontier Airlines left about two years ago.
Work is finishing on expanding a parking lot, which has created 200 more spaces. The authority is also updating lighting, signage and traffic flow.
