Three Maryland airports are splitting $33.9 million in new federal funding, with BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport alone set to receive more than $21 million to rebuild a crumbling cargo apron and study aircraft noise over nearby neighborhoods. Carroll County Regional Airport and Hagerstown Regional Airport will divide the remainder for runway realignment and safety upgrades demanded by federal aviation regulators.
The package, announced Friday, breaks down to $21,091,172 for BWI, $7,609,500 for Carroll County Regional Airport, and $5,230,367 for Hagerstown Regional Airport, according to WJLA. The funding comes through the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program, part of a $1.1 billion nationwide release supporting 223 airports across the country, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Under Maryland Aviation Administration rules, those federal dollars typically cover 90% of eligible project costs, with state and local sponsors splitting the remaining 5% each.
BWI's Cargo Apron Gets a Long-Overdue Fix
At BWI, the bulk of the new money will go toward reconstructing 110,000 square yards of the airport's North Cargo Apron, per the same WJLA report.
The apron work matters because BWI has become the busiest air cargo hub in the Washington-Baltimore region. The airport processed 567 million pounds of air freight in 2025, an 8% jump from the year before, per the BWI Business Partnership. That growth prompted BWI to join the national Cargo Airline Association as an associate member in mid-2026, the business group noted.
Noise Study Responds to Years of Community Pushback
BWI's grant will also fund an evaluation of noise exposure at the airport and in surrounding communities, along with low-emission equipment including five gate electrification systems and remote ground power units, WJLA reports. The noise study follows sustained pressure from Maryland's congressional delegation, which urged the FAA in April to address flight path noise and its impact on nearby residents.
That pressure traces back to concerns Hoodline covered in BWI jet noise uproar coverage earlier this year, when lawmakers blasted the FAA's timeline for fixes. A University of Maryland School of Pharmacy study estimated that concentrated flight paths over residential communities near BWI could inflict up to $800 million in long-term health and economic burdens over 30 years from noise and particulate pollution, according to reporting compiled by the Howard County Council. That advocacy also led local jurisdictions to hire independent noise monitoring contractors to track the impacts of the FAA's NextGen flight path changes.
Senator Chris Van Hollen said Maryland's airports are economic engines serving travelers and businesses across the region and around the world, per WJLA's report. He added that the federal funds will help airports meet safety standards while addressing local communities' noise concerns at BWI. The funding was jointly announced Friday by Van Hollen, Senator Angela Alsobrooks, Representative Sarah Elfreth, Representative April McClain Delaney and Representative Johnny Olszewski, according to the same account.
Carroll County Shifts a Runway, Hagerstown Clears an Obstruction
At Carroll County Regional Airport, the grant will fund shifting Runway 16/34 westward by 250 feet to bring it into conformance with current standards, WJLA reports. Carroll County government environmental assessment documentation shows the realignment is designed to accommodate future development on the airfield's east side while preserving FAA-mandated safety separation buffers, eliminating land-use encroachments that don't conform to federal requirements.
In Hagerstown, the funding will pay for removing a building and relocating fencing that the FAA has identified as obstructive, along with rehabilitating lighting and 3,000 feet of pavement on Runway 2/20 to maintain structural integrity and minimize foreign object debris, per WJLA. Washington County records specify that the structure slated for demolition is an abandoned Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting building, which currently violates FAA Runway Visibility Zone standards requiring unblocked sightlines across intersecting runways. Hagerstown Regional Airport operates as a Part 139-certified commercial airfield offering scheduled Allegiant Air flights to Florida and South Carolina alongside general aviation traffic, according to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, making compliance with those federal pavement and obstruction standards a requirement rather than an option.
Part of a Bigger Wave of BWI Investment
The new federal grants land on top of other major infrastructure work already underway at BWI. The airport began a separate $83.8 million runway rehabilitation project on July 22, closing Runway 10-28 through October 8 and temporarily shifting air traffic patterns across Anne Arundel and Howard counties — a closure Hoodline covered as part of its summer flight disruption reporting.
That runway work followed the January opening of BWI's $520 million Concourse A/B Connector and Baggage Handling System, which Governor Wes Moore's office called the largest capital improvement project in the airport's history. That expansion primarily supports Southwest Airlines, which handles more than 18 million passengers annually at BWI, according to the Office of Governor Wes Moore.
