Utah County Commission adds $78 million to expand the Provo Airport

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah County Commission is providing $78 million to help the Provo Airport expansion.

Utah County Commissioner Skyler Beltran said they aren’t using any general fund money.

“The funding is coming from our TRCC account,” Beltran explained, “Which is a tax that is generated through car rentals, hotel space, and restaurant bills.”

Provo City Communications Director Nicole Martin said the county commission has supported the airport since the beginning.

“To be able to use their tourism funds that need to be used for this purpose that clearly has a county benefit and absolutely a state benefit as well,” Martin said.

Martin said they expect the expansion to cost $140 million in total. 

Provo Airport manager Brian Torgersen said they also received funding from the Federal Aviation Administration, the state, Provo City and the Mountainland Association of Governments. 

“It’s just a great collaborative effort from a lot of different entities. It’ll be fully built out,” Beltran said, “A lot of people are concerned that the airport may be growing too fast or too quickly but this will build it to its full potential.

Beltran said they’re giving $19.5 million now and will fund almost $4 million each year for the next 15 years.

Provo Airport expansion goals

He said they hope to attract an airline that will connect people directly to vacation destinations instead of needing to catch a connecting flight at another airport.

“Now that you can go anywhere in the world with potentially just one stop, it gives you that option of not needing to go up to Salt Lake International which is a benefit to them as well,” Martin said. “We’re alleviating traffic. We’re alleviating pollution. We’re giving a convenient option.

Torgersen said they’re planning to lengthen the runway to 10,000 feet allowing them to accommodate almost every aircraft except the 777 and the 747. He said they’ll need to go out into the lake in order to extend the runway.

Torgersen said construction to add more space for aircraft to stay overnight starts in April.

Martin said they’re also going to build on the north and south sides of the current terminal. She said they hope to finish the Provo Airport expansion by 2028.