Vicksburg Municipal Airport among 73 Mississippi airports to receive federal grants

Vicksburg Municipal Airport is among 73 facilities in Mississippi to receive federal grants to offset economic loses due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Mississippi’s U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., today announced the award of $34,855,031 in grants to Mississippi airfields. Vicksburg Municipal will receive $30,000.

The Federal Aviation Administration awards, made available directly from the U.S. Treasury, were funded in the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as CARES.

“Mississippi’s airports provide an essential service to our state that has been dramatically impacted by the coronavirus outbreak,” Wicker said in a statement. The senator, as chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, was responsible for negotiating many of the transportation-related provisions in the CARES Act legislation, including support for airports and air carriers.

“This emergency funding will help our airports mitigate the worst effects of the coronavirus on their operations so they can continue to support air travel after this crisis has ended,” he said.

“Helping to ensure continued operation of airports in Mississippi is important for public safety and our economic recovery. This series of FAA grants is intended to help sustain these facilities as our state works through the coronavirus outbreak,” Hyde-Smith said.

The largest grants are:

• Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Gulfport – $20,929,795
• Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, Jackson – $8,561,630
• Golden Triangle Regional Airport, Columbus – $1,190,282
• Key Field, Meridian – $1,079,543
• Tupelo Regional Airport, Tupelo – $1,055,781

To see the complete list of awards, click here.