Fort Myers airport lands nearly $25M dollar grant

The Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers was recently awarded a sizable grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. The Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG) program awarded $24.9 million to the airport, which will be used to improve the concourse, taxiway and runways. 

The funds will also expand the airport’s Terminal Access Road with the addition of an off ramp and three traffic lanes, to alleviate traffic congestion getting into and out of the airport, according to a statement. 

“These funds are essential to the future growth at Southwest Florida International Airport,” says Steven Hennigan, executive director and CEO of the Lee County Port Authority, “As we begin the work to add a new concourse at RSW, we will need to make sure travelers can move smoothly and safely from their cars to the terminal building and this funding will help meet that goal.”

The Airport Infrastructure Grant program is one of three aviation grant programs created by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Nearly $9 billion of the $15 billion total of AIG funding has been distributed to airports across the country. An additional $10 billion is to be distributed evenly between airport terminals and air traffic facilities. 

RSW served more than 10 million passengers in 2023 and is ranked 45 on the list of busiest U.S. airports for passenger traffic.