The FAA is providing $10 million in funding to Hawaii for airport improvements, Sen. Mazie Hirono announced May 30.
Both Kahului Airport on Maui and Hilo International Airport on Hawaii Island will receive funds to improve runway safety and airport operations.
"Ensuring safe and secure air travel is critical to sustaining Hawaii's economy and commerce," Hirono said in a statement. "Federal funding for these runway improvement projects will help to strengthen runway safety at the Kahului and Hilo International airports."
Kahului Airport will receive approximately $6.2 million to support the purchase of roughly 13 acres of privately owned land near its runways. Hilo International Airport is getting $4.4 million to pay for drainage improvements that will help prevent ponding on the airfield.
"We are very pleased to receive the support of this grant funding that will allow us to meet FAA's runway safety zone requirements and to provide increased safety to our air travelers," Ross Higashi, deputy director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation-Airport Divisions, said in a statement. "These types of financial programs further supplement Hawaii's airport systems."