MONTEREY – The Monterey Regional Airport is receiving $25.13 million in new federal funding for construction of its replacement passenger terminal which officially broke ground in June.
“The estimated cost of the replacement passenger terminal is still approximately $98 million,” said Monterey Regional Airport Interim Executive Director Chris Morello in an email. “We received a grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Improvement Airport Terminal Program on June 6, 2025 for this construction in the amount of $14.2 million. With this additional $25.1 million, we are in a good position.”
Morello added that the Monterey airport anticipates needing about between $3-to-$9 million more in additional grant funds to complete the Federal portion of the funding for the construction. Those funds will come in federal Fiscal Year 2026, which commences on Oct. 1.
“The remainder of the funding for the construction has always been planned to be loans paid back by airport revenue,” said Morello. “That borrowing is on track to be completed sometime in 2025.”
Upon completion, the new replacement passenger terminal will boast nearly 63,000 square feet of public space to serve the more than 600,000 passengers annually who currently move through the Monterey airport. The new facility will likely be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certified, have five passenger boarding bridges, eight commercial aircraft parking spaces and offer 440 public parking spaces. The new terminal is expected to deliver a modern, accessible and efficient travel experience once the terminal is open, estimated to happen in spring 2027.
On Wednesday, California U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff announced that Monterey Regional was one of 46 California airports awarded a combined $168.85 million in grant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to bolster aviation infrastructure. The funding comes through the Airport Improvement Program, which invests in airport infrastructure projects such as runways, taxiways, noise cancellation, airport signage, airport lighting and airport markings. Congress appropriates funding for the AIP annually.
“From large international hubs to the hundreds of small regional or local airports, the Golden State’s airports play an essential role in helping millions of Californians and visitors alike get where they need to go,” said Padilla in a press release. “This tranche of more than $168 million in federal aviation funding will modernize our airport infrastructure to create a safer, smoother passenger experience while creating good-paying jobs and investing in low-emission equipment.”
Monterey Regional Airport’s $25.13 million portion of the $168.85 million in federal aviation funding was the largest awarded, followed by Los Angeles International Airport at $22.77 million and San Francisco International Airport at $16.76 million, among others.
Monterey’s new airline passenger terminal will accommodate the movement of passengers and baggage, and this grant funds the sixth phase, which consists of construction of 16,625 square feet of the terminal building, according to the announcement from the Senators.
“With the grant funds we have enough money available to take us well into construction,” said Morello. “We are waiting on (Pacific Gas and Electric Company) to move a gas line that is in the footprint of the replacement terminal location. That is scheduled for Sept. 29 so people will see construction commence on the building in early October.”
Morello said the aircraft ramp parking has been completed and construction has started on the long-term parking lot that will support the replacement terminal location.
“This federal funding will make a critical investment in California’s airports, improving their safety and modernizing their infrastructure, while creating more jobs in communities across the Golden State,” said Schiff in the release. “I will keep working with Senator Alex Padilla and the entire California delegation to continue to strengthen our transportation system and boost our local economies.”
The replacement passenger terminal is one project of many in the more than $200 million Monterey Regional Airport Metamorphosis Safety Enhancement Program, which is a Federal Aviation Administration requirement to enhance safety at the airport. The program is made possible through multiple and significant federal grants.
Other projects in the program include a state-of-the-art Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Station which opened in 2023, new general aviation hangars on the airport’s north side, completed in 2023, and the future relocation of Taxiway A, the final phase of the MRY Metamorphosis SEP.
