McAllen International Airport receives $5.4 million in federal funding
MCALLEN, Texas - The director of McAllen Aviation Airport says her airport is \u201cdoing phenomenally well\u201d following the downturn in flights caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Elizabeth Suarez gave her analysis to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service at a news conference held to announce a $5.4 million grant from the federal government. The money is being used to cover maintenance and operations costs.
\u201cWe are doing phenomenally well. We are very excited. In April we announced a new service to Monterrey and to Nashville. Right after April and May we announced a new service to Guadalajara, connecting to Vallarta and it is going very well,\u201d Suarez said, when asked how McAllen International Airport is recovering from the pandemic.
\u201cWe have seen a 70 percent increase from last year and we are trending from April thru June higher than 2019, which was our highest year on record. It is good story to tell.\u201d
Suarez said she will have a better idea on long term projections come the Fall.
\u201cThere were industry projections that this was going to take a lot longer. Leisure travel, like you said, the demand was there and that is what we are seeing now. The true test will be come Fall. Do we see business travel come back? If that comes back we are very optimistic about that will look like.\u201d
Suarez thanked U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez for helping to secure $5.4 million via the Airport Relief Funding process. Previously, McAllen International Airport received $4 million and $3 million in response to COVID-19.
\u201cAirports are a key component of not only infrastructure and economic development but just overall quality of life. We were hit so drastically during COVID. We were one of the first industries to feel a really heavy burden as we worked through this last year,\u201d Suarez explained.
Suarez said the new money is being used for operations and maintenance costs.\xa0
\u201cEven though we did not have many passengers, we still had to ramp up our maintenance costs and sanitation costs\u2026 to ensure we were compliant with CDC recommendations.\u201d
CDC stands for the Centers for Disease Control.
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