Airport lands $1.5M grant for runway project

The Federal Aviation Administration awarded the Naples Airport Authority a grant worth more than $1.5 million toward a runway reconfiguration project.

The FAA, in total, will provide $1,580,993, which reflects 90% of the project cost, according to a release. The airport, through an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation, will receive another $87,883, 5% of the project cost, the release adds. The remaining 5% will be covered by the airport's capital improvement project budget.

The project is a reconfiguration of the end of taxiway A at runway 5. Once complete, the improvement project will bring the runway's connector up to FAA's new standards, the release states. The project also includes a new holding bay.

Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. is leading construction for the taxiway improvements and holding bay, which began mid-October. Project completion is expected by late December.

In addition to Taxiway A, several other improvement projects are in progress at the airport, including new restrooms for the observation deck and new pathways next to the observation deck to prevent flooding. Those projects are also expected to be complete by late December.

Elite Airways recently announced regularly scheduled commercial flights between Naples and Newark, N.J., and Portland, Maine. The charter operator is based in Portland and is the first carrier to offer commercial flights from Naples in nine years.