San Diego International Granted $26.3M For Infrastructure Improvements

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego International Airport was awarded $26.29 million and several other regional airports received funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to upgrade infrastructure, it was announced Monday.

San Diego International, along with El Cajon’s Gillespie Field, San Diego’s Brown Field and Oceanside’s Bob Maxwell Memorial Airfield were among 56 California airports receiving more than $219 million from the FAA through its Airport Improvement Program.

“Californians and the millions of visitors we get each year deserve a safer, smoother airport experience,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, who announced the grants Monday. “By modernizing our airport infrastructure, these investments will not just make travel easier for passengers, but will reduce noise and air pollution in neighboring communities.”

SAN will receive its funding for four projects:

— acquiring and installing noise mitigation for 201 residences near the airport;

— construction of a 127,578 square yard apron — where the planes are parked — at Terminal 1 and an 8,640 square yard overnight apron;

— construction of a new 6,300-foot-long taxiway; and

— shifting a taxiway south by 37.5 feet.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is funding projects across the country that are making airports safer and more efficient for the passengers who travel through them and for the airport and airline employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make these complex systems run as smoothly as possible,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “The grants we’re announcing today will improve airfield operations for dozens of airports and help ensure the U.S. retains its global leadership in aviation.”

The grants awarded Monday also include $5.1 million for Gillespie Field to rehabilitate its runway, $540,000 for Brown Field to install perimeter fencing and $136,260 for Bob Maxwell Memorial Airfield to install a runway visual guidance system and to rehabilitate runway lighting.

San Diego International is undergoing a massive project to rebuild Terminal 1. In late August, the airport opened the first phase of its parking plaza, providing 2,834 parking spots. The second phase of the parking plaza and first phase of the terminal itself is scheduled to open in summer 2025, with all construction slated to finish by early 2028.