Fresno’s growing airport gets cash infusion to boost terminal expansion project
The city of Fresno will get $7.1 million in federal infrastructure funds to help pay for construction of an ambitious expansion of the terminal building at Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
The award, announced Monday by the Federal Aviation Administration, is coming from the Airport Terminal Program of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It comes less than a week after the Fresno City Council awarded a contract for up to $127 million to build a new concourse with two new boarding gates and make other improvements at the city-owned airport.
The expansion of the terminal facilities is one piece of a broader modernization program nicknamed FATForward, a play on the airport’s official FAT identifying designation from the FAA. Fresno’s airport is an enterprise fund, meaning it operates self-sufficiently without using money from the city’s general fund – the pot of money from which most of the city’s day-to-day bills are paid.
Fresno Yosemite International was one of 99 airports nationwide to receive a share of about $1 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The project calls for a new terminal concourse to augment the existing terminal building with two new passenger gates with boarding bridges to handle both international and domestic arrivals and departures, as well as expanded passenger waiting areas and new concession areas.
The work also includes expanding the Transportation Security Administration’s passenger-screening checkpoint to provide greater capacity; a new inspection system for checked bags; upgraded conveyor systems for baggage; and a new Federal Inspection Service facility.
Money to pay for the terminal expansion program is coming from a variety of sources, including almost $23 million from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration; $24 million from another Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program for airport infrastructure grants; about $5.2 million in federal CARES Act money; $5.8 million in passenger facility charges paid by airlines per ticketed passenger; about $6 million from Measure C, a countywide sales tax measure to fund transportation improvements in Fresno County; and airport bonds that would be repaid through future airport revenues.
“FAT’s terminal expansion project is the first major improvement to the airport in more than 20 years and supports a growing Central Valley region,” said Henry Thompson, Fresno’s director of aviation. “This federal grant … to fund this significant project gets us that much closer to making this expansion a reality and providing a higher level of service for the community.”
Work on the expansion is expected to begin in in March with completion expected in late 2025.
The airport opened a new four-level parking garage with more than 900 parking stalls in the fall of 2021 to meet increasing passenger demand for travel as the COVID-19 pandemic began to let up. The airport also plans to replace the aging control tower and rebuild one of its two runways.
