Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria Receives Grant for New Air Service to West

Peoria, IL – The US Department of Transportation announced that a grant of $500,000 was awarded to the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria (MAAP) under the Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASD). This program provides funds to small communities to address air service and airfare issues. The grant application process required the communities to provide matching dollars and community support. Of the 48 applicants, 20 cities/airports received grants for a total for $14.8 million. 

Officials at MAAP worked with community partners to collect 17 letters of support for the project. The project will use revenue guarantees to an airline to obtain connectivity through a western or southern hub on a business oriented airline. The Airport Authority’s application included airport non-revenue funds as well as community marketing dollars, more than matching the requested dollars, for a total local share of $738,000. MAAP also secured letters of support from both American Airlines and United Airlines, indicating a high level of support by those carriers to provide service through their Western Hub markets making it easier for central Illinois travelers to get to and beyond those destinations. 

“Many of our top 50 destination cities are to the west, and the Peoria community has a lack of connecting flights in that direction. Our businesses and partners need improved connections to the places they need to go.”, said Gene Olson, Director of Airports for the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria. “So, this potential for new service is a huge opportunity for our community.” 

“We’d like to thank the entire team who worked on this project, from the community members who wrote letters of support, to our airline partners. In addition, none of this would be happening without the involvement of the elected officials who wrote letters of support and helped with our application, including State Senator Koehler, US Representative Sorensen, US Representative LaHood, Senator Durbin, and Senator Duckworth and all of their staffs”, said Olson.