OCEAN CITY — Airports across Maryland this week were awarded nearly $108 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding including healthy fiscal shots in the arm for facilities in Ocean City and Salisbury.
Maryland’s full bipartisan congressional delegation, including Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen along with Congressman Andy Harris on Tuesday announced the roughly $108 million in CARES Act funding for regional airports across the state. More specifically, six airports on Maryland’s Eastern Shore will receive the federal grants including over $18 million for the Salisbury-Ocean City-Wicomico Regional Airport and $30,000 for the Ocean City Municipal Airport in West Ocean City.
The CARES Act funding for the airports falls under a series of grants from phase three of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airport improvement program. The $10 billion in funding is being provided for the FAA to continue critical safety and capacity projects to continue as planned regardless of current financial circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris said the injection of federal funding for regional airports around the state including six in his district on the Eastern Shore was critical in terms of assuring they remain operational and planned improvement projects continue unabated.
“I support our local regional airports and the rural communities they serve on the Eastern Shore,” he said. “These small businesses support badly needed jobs in our local communities, and during this pandemic and economic disruption.”
The Lower Shore’s delegation in Washington including Harris, Cardin and Van Hollen among others issued a statement regarding the injection of federal CARES Act funding for regional airports across the state including Ocean City and Salisbury.
“Maryland’s airports, large and small, have always been critical economic hubs for our state and the entire mid-Atlantic region,” the state delegation’s statement reads. “Amid the COVID-19 crisis, our airports face unprecedented financial challenges, all while supporting our region’s response to this pandemic. These federal funds will help Maryland’s airports, their thousands of workers, and the communities that rely on them.”
