Sponsors of primary and non-primary airports eligible for discretionary funding under 49 U.S.C. 47115(a) are eligible to share approximately $970 million annually. Not more than 55% of these funds go to large hub airports, not more than 15% go to medium hub airports, not more than 20% go to small hub airports, and not less than 10% go to non-hub and non-primary airports. Instructions for applying for these funds will be outlined in a NOFO, which will be issued annually until the program expires. Projects will be selected by FAA based on sponsor’s information submitted in response to the criteria as outlined in the NOFO.

AIG funds that remain unobligated at the end fourth FY of their availability will be made available for the FCT program and the AFR program. Airport Sponsors must submit applications based on bids for AIG allocation grants by June 30th of the fourth FY for each annual AIG allocation to meet the obligation deadline, as noted in Q-09.  

Funds recovered after the fifth FY will return to the General Fund.
 

Funds not obligated at the end of the fifth fiscal year will expire. ATP funds recovered prior to the end of the fifth fiscal year can be used to amend open ATP grants or made available for new ATP grants based on a competitive process. At the end of the fifth fiscal year, any unobligated or recovered funds will return to the General Fund.

AIG  Allocated: The Federal share is the same as for AIP grants, ranging from 50% to 95%, as outlined in 49 U.S.C. §47109 (for further explanation of the statutory provision, see Section 4-9 of FAA Order 5100.38D, Change 1 (AIP Handbook)). This includes grants using unobligated AIG funds for projects not related to FCTs. See Q-F3.

The 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act provided a time limited change to the Federal share for nonhub or nonprimary airports. For FYs 2025 and 2026, the Federal share for AIG grants to these airports has increased from 90% to 95%.

FCT: The Federal share for FCT improvements is 100%. This includes grants using unobligated AIG funds for FCT projects. See Q-F3. 

AFR: The Federal share for AFR projects is the same as those for AIG grants. 

ATP: The Federal share for terminal and sponsor-owned ATCT improvements is 80% for large and medium hub airports and 95% for small hub, nonhub, and nonprimary airports. 
 

AIG Allocated: Yes. The sponsor’s match is the same as for sponsor’s AIP grants, ranging from 5% to 50%. This includes grants made using unobligated AIG funds for projects not related to FCT. See Q-F3.

FCT Competitive: No. The Federal share for FCT improvements is 100%. This includes grants made using unobligated AIG funds for FCT projects. See Q-F3.

AFR: Yes. The Federal share for AFR projects is the same as those for AIG grants.

ATP: Yes. The sponsor’s match is 20% for large and medium hub airports and 5% for small hub, non-hub, and non-primary airports.
 

No. IIJA does not require an annual appropriation. The funding is appropriated and will be available at the beginning of each FY.

Under IIJA, not more than $500 million is allocated annually to nonprimary airports based on the categories published in the NPIAS, updated with current year data. FAA Order 5090.5, Formulation of the NPIAS and ACIP, defines the criteria for each category or role.
 

Yes. AIG allocations are calculated each year based on the prior full calendar year of enplanement and cargo landed weight data. FY 2026 allocations will be based on CY 2024 data.  Allocations are based on a hybrid of airports performance and an airports performance relative to other primary airports.  Changes in enplanements, cargo landing weight, or relative performance compared to other airports will result in changes in allocation.  Additionally, changes in airport classification from primary to non-primary will change an airports allocation.

Primary airport allocations for FY 2022, FY 2023, and FY 2024 are based on highest enplanements for CY 2018, CY 2019, and previous full CY. An airport that was classified as a primary airport in any of those years is considered a primary airport for the year of allocation. Primary airport allocations for FY25 and FY26 will be based on full prior CY enplanements. 

Allocations for nonprimary airports that do not change NPIAS classification should not vary significantly from FY 2025 to FY 2026. For nonprimary airports, IIJA directs the FAA to use the categories published in the most current NPIAS published in FY2025. The NPIAS is published every other FY with FY 2026 being an off year.  In off years, FAA updates categories for airports that are newly opened, closed, changed to and from primary to nonprimary or moved out of unclassified status.  No updates are made to development costs or changes to and from categories other than primary/nonprimary, and unclassified role.

Yes. If the airport’s classification changes from unclassified to classified, that airport would be eligible for an allocation the following FY based on the airport’s new classification. Similarly, if an airport drops to unclassified it would lose allocations the following FY.

No. Unobligated AIG allocations are available until they expire (see Q-9).

No. The funds are available for obligation until the end of the fourth FY. In the fifth FY, unobligated funds are transferred and used for competitive AFR grants. See Q-9 and Q-F3.

No. The legislation specifically states that there shall be no maximum apportionment limit under 49 U.S.C. 47114(c)(1)(C)(iii).

No. The legislation specifically states that these funds are not subject to the reduced apportionments of 49 U.S.C. 47114(f).

No. The legislation references section 49 U.S.C. 47114(2), requiring cargo apportionments to be based on prior CY landed weight. There was no “best of” provision for cargo.

Yes. The 2024 FAA Reauthorization made changes to both primary and cargo allocations. Beginning with FY25, “the best-of-three” provision is no longer in effect and the minimum primary allocation was increased from $1 million to $1.3 million. In addition, the threshold cargo weight was reduced from 100 million to 25 million pounds of cargo while increasing the allocation of primary funding from 3.5% to 4.0%.

Yes. As discussed in Q-F5 above, the Federal share has been changed for nonhub primary and nonprimary airports for FYs 2025-2026. During this time, the Federal share has increased to 95% for AIG & AFR grants. All other Federal share categories remain unchanged for IIJA.

Yes. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directs ARP to issue PGLs to provide for the interim implementation of changes to AIP within one year of enactment of the Act (enacted on May 16, 2024).  The FAA has issued all required PGLs.

Yes. Section 741 states that IIJA funding may be used to extend secondary runways at nonhub or small hub primary airports notwithstanding the level of operational activity that would benefit a longer runway. This applies only to AIG funding. 

The criteria for AIP eligibility remain unchanged for both the secondary runway designation and runway length. Therefore, sponsors should proceed with caution if there is not sufficient IIJA funding to complete the project and they cannot meet AIP eligibility requirements. The sponsor will be responsible for completing the project with other non-Federal funding sources. Please work with your ADO/RO to ensure a complete funding plan is in place.