Charlottesville is the only Virginia airport to receive this grant.
The grant for Charlottesville will be used to provide revenue guarantees, conduct a marketing program, and offset start-up costs for new service to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Public and private sector partners will contribute $95,948 to the program.
"This money will make a difference for Charlottesville," said Secretary LaHood. "Local air service is critical to our nation's communities, both large and small, and these grants will contribute to economic growth while helping to provide better service and more options for air travelers."
The grant program began in 2002 to help small communities address the challenges of local air service, such as high fares, insufficient levels of service, and lack of competition. Since then, the awards have helped more than 200 hundred communities develop projects tailored to their own air service needs, such as providing financial incentives to carriers, conducting studies on the possibilities of expanded service, and carrying out marketing programs to promote existing local service.
All of the grant recipients have made financial commitments toward their grant projects, and most recipients have teamed with local government and the business community to address their local air service needs.
Complete community proposals and the department's final order are available on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov/, docket DOT-OST-2010-0124. A list of recipient communities and funding totals is available at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/X-50%20Role_files/smallcommunity.htm###
