Airports
Florida’s Venice Airport Marks Turnaround with FAA Grant

Venice Airport on Florida’s Gulf Coast stands out among the 40 or so fields that received FAA Airport Improvement Program grants totaling more than $260 million in August. It’s not because Venice is a bastion of business aviation activity–the field is lucky to see six bizjet movements per day–nor did it receive the largest ($32.9 million) or smallest ($791,000) grant.

Instead, the $7.1 million grant to rehabilitate Runway 4/22 is noteworthy because just two years ago the FAA was seriously considering taking back airport funding because of grant-assurance violations. By accepting a $3.6 million AIP grant in 2007 to repave Runway 13/31, Venice Airport was obligated to adhere to the grant’s assurances.