31 Maine airports to receive $10M in federal relief

COURTESY / PQI Presque Isle International Airport was one of 31 airports across the state that received federal relief funds.

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By Staff

The sweeping federal COVID-19 relief bill signed into law in December will provide $9.7 million to 31 airports across Maine to alleviate financial pressure they face due to the pandemic.

The Maine airports will be able to use the funds to keep workers employed, for operating expenses, and for debt service obligations.

The following four airports received funding for operations as well as for concession operations, according to a news release Wednesday:

• Bangor International Airport: $2,650,935

• Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport: $1,005,588

• Portland International Jetport: $4,721,763

• Presque Isle International Airport: $1,007,336

The following general aviation airports will receive the remaining funds:

• Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport: $23,000

• Augusta State Airport: $23,000

• Belfast Municipal Airport: $9,000

• Bethel Regional Airport: $13,000

• Biddeford Municipal Airport: $13,000

• Brunswick Executive Airport: $13,000

• Caribou Municipal Airport: $9,000

• Sugarloaf Regional Airport: $ 9,000

• Dexter Regional Airport: $13,000

• Eastport Municipal Airport: $9,000

• Northern Aroostook Regional Airport in Frenchville: $9,000

• Eastern Slopes Regional Airport in Fryeburg: $13,000

• Greenville Municipal Airport: $9,000

• Houlton International Airport: $13,000

• Newton Field Airport in Jackman: $9,000

• Lincoln Regional Airport: $13,000

• Machias Valley Airport: $9,000

• Millinocket Municipal Airport: $13,000

• Central Maine Airport of Norridgewock: $13,000

• Dewitt Field, Old Town Municipal Airport: $13,000

• Oxford County Regional Airport: $9,000

• Pittsfield Municipal Airport: $13,000

• Princeton Municipal Airport: $9,000

• Steven A Bean Municipal Airport: $9,000

• Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport: $23,000

• Waterville Robert Lafleur Airport: $13,000

• Wiscasset Airport: $13,000

“Like other airports around the world, Maine airports are struggling to make ends meet given the sharp downturn in passenger traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who co-led a bipartisan group that negotiated the package, said in a news release. “This investment will help ensure that airports across the state will continue to serve as engines of job creation and essential pieces of our transportation network after the current public health and economic crisis has passed.”

Earlier this month, Portland International Jetport and Bangor International Airport announced that some of their carriers are adding routes for the 2021 summer season.

The airport funding is part of the wide-ranging $2.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes $908 billion in pandemic relief. It included provisions specific to Maine’s economy, including the restaurant industry, loggers and log haulers, renewable energy, mass transit, fishery disaster relief, broadband funding and a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans.