San Antonio International Airport in August was awarded $12.5 million in another round of federal infrastructure grant money, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Aug. 31.

According to an Aug. 31 news release, $2.5 million in Airport Improvement Program money is designed to help airports with building new and improving existing facilities, fixing runways and taxiways, and buying equipment needed to operate and maintain airports.

The San Antonio Aviation Department is rolling out a multiyear plan to expand and enhance SAT, including extending airfield capacity and adding a third terminal.

City officials said they will allocate the newly awarded infrastructure grant funds to support an environmental assessment of its upcoming airfield expansion program.

Local officials said the goal is to shift, lengthen and decouple two commercial runways as part of the airport’s master plan that was recently completed last year.

“This is a major development in our master plan, and it’s good news for the future of San Antonio and meeting the needs of our travelers. This is the first step in reaching our goal to increase our ability to offer more international flights,” airport system Director Jesus Saenz said.

SAT is one of 200 airports in 44 states to receive the funding as part of the U.S. government’s fiscal year 2022 program. To date, the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation have awarded $2.9 billion in AIP grants for the current fiscal year.

Earlier in August, the San Antonio airport was awarded another grant of $10 million from the same AIP fund. That money will be used for construction projects on a taxiway, which will allow for more room for Terminal C to be built, local officials said.

The city on July 5 announced the FAA awarding a $408,000 grant to support the SAT’s Pavement Management and Maintenance Program.

According to a news release, this grant is funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bipartisan infrastructure law passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last fall.

City officials said this grant will allow the aviation department to study the condition of airfield pavement to identify needs and develop a maintenance program for future airfield pavement improvements.