The Wilmington International Airport is set to receive a $16.4 million grant to continue to expand its terminal building and apron, according to a news release Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s FAA has awarded the grant to ILM to increase accessibility for individuals with disabilities as part of the agency's Airport Improvement Program.

The money will be used to “expand the terminal building and apron to accommodate increased use of the terminal facilities. The expanded terminal will have additional concourse and gate seating, new restaurant and retail space, and expanded TSA checkpoint screening areas. The new areas will be ADA accessible and meet all ADA requirements,” the release stated.

According to the release, this is part of an effort to provide grants to build safer, more sustainable and more accessible airports across the United States.

The FAA has awarded more than $766 million as part of the Airport Improvement Program for 279 airports in 44 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Last year, the FAA provided $21.1 million in funds to go toward the third phase of the ILM terminal expansion which included installing utilities, building foundations, plumbing, electrical components and roofing construction.

In a July interview, Granseur Dick, ILM's facilities director, said work has continued on ILM’s terminal expansion and renovation projects, despite the pandemic. He said officials were looking to add to the project, slated to be completed by the end of 2022, with those additions hinging on grants.

Largely impacted by the pandemic like other airports across the world, transportation officials with ILM announced in April 2020 the airport was eligible for more than $19.8 million in federal funding to help offset losses a drop in travels. In July, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act’s Airport Rescue Grants, the airport received more than $6.5 million as part of pandemic relief efforts.

The latest airport numbers show a bump in passengers with over 99,400 passengers who traveled in and out of the airport in June, up 368% from June 2020. But this was slightly below travel numbers at the airport in prepandemic June 2019, when 100,300 travelers used ILM.