WILMINGTON — The Wilmington Airport Authority on Wednesday approved $6,090,079 in US bailout funds, allocated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The airport authority plans to use the funds to cover operational costs, including staff, cleaning, sanitizing, janitorial services and debt service payment.

The FAA received $8 billion under the ARPA enacted on March 11, 2021, and is distributing funds to national airports as grants for economic relief. Nearly $6.5 billion is split between major commercial service airports, such as ILM, defined as having more than 10,000 annual boardings. Wilmington Airport saw 905,630 passengers in 2021, 84% of pre-Covid levels.

An additional $800 million is distributed to airports to maintain concessions in terminals. ILM received $462,000 for concession relief.

The airport plans to open the new Tailwind cafe in April and a larger main restaurant in May. Until construction is complete, there is a food and beverage kiosk in the new terminal, which is expected to open to the public on Tuesday. It’s a big part of the airport’s $60 million multi-phase expansion master plan. ILM received an additional $6.5 million in ARPA funding in July 2021. It also received nearly $20 million from the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act in 2020, as part of the $10 billion FAA dollars she distributed. The money helped the airport retain staff and increase cleaning protocols during the height of the pandemic.

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