Albany Airport hopes to land $40 million state grant

Albany International Airport is competing in a state-run grant program in hopes of receiving $40 million to revitalize aging passenger facilities, expand capacity for private aircraft business, and build a four-story parking garage to ease congestion in parking lots.

The effort comes as business at the airport continues to grow for the third year in a row, airport officials announced Thursday.

The airport is competing for a portion of the $190 million the state has committed to the Upstate Airport Economic Development Revitalization Competition, a grant program that aims to invest in the development of commercial airports in upstate New York.

Airport CEO John O’Donnell on Thursday said that a steady rise in passenger traffic over the past three years is a large part of why the airport is looking expand and renovate its facilities. The improvements could add around 200 jobs to the site, according to the proposal.

“It’s time for an upgrade and modernization to stay current and continue to attract passengers to this airport,” O’Donnell said, explaining that Albany International is one of the fastest-growing airports in the state.

In 2015, JetBlue was added as a carrier at the airport, and American Airlines recently added three daily flights to Chicago. In addition, O’Donnell estimates that the number of passengers boarding planes at Albany International increased by 5.5 percent in 2015, and that number is on track to rise by 10 percent by the end of 2016.

“Recently [we’ve] had a congestion problem” in passenger parking lots, O’Donnell said. “And even though we keep building more spaces a couple hundred at a time, we still can’t keep up.”

The proposed improvements touch almost all facets of airport operation, according to airport officials. Should the airport be awarded its full request of $40 million, another garage would be built adding 1,000 parking spots.

The project would also rehab escalators, restrooms, and the food court in the terminal, which has handled over 40 million passengers since it was last renovated in 1998, an airport statement said.

“Passenger amenities are important,” O’Donnell said. “We want to improve it, and we can do that.”

A 20,000-square-foot hanger would be built to expand space available for private aircraft parking and operations.

The plan also includes a training facility for employees and flight attendants at CommutAir, an air carrier based at the airport. The airport would also like to add space for more private business development after its success with fiber-optic equipment provider IntegraoOptics, which was launched in 2005.

The total budget for the project is just under $50 million, made up of $40 million in state grant money, $9.1 million from the airport itself, and over $500,000 in investments from private companies Integra and CommutAir, according to airport officials

The project would take about 18 months to complete. Grant winners are expected to be announced in December.