The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded the A.B. Won Pat International Airport Authority $16 million for construction of a new Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) Building. The current ARFF barn, constructed in the 70s, was transferred to the airport authority upon closure of the Naval Air Station under the Base Realignment and Closure commission in 1996.
The awarding of this grant that funds construction of the facility follows two previous grants with $100,000 awarded in 2016 for the design of the ARFF building and $3.5 million awarded in 2017 for Phase 1 of construction of ARFF facility.
"We thank the FAA for their support in enhancing the safety and security of our facilities. The construction of a new ARFF facility takes us up to that top notch in modernity and technology in the field of Firefighting and Rescue. The investment in the Guam Airport and our firefighting facilities ensures the safety and security of the 3.6 Million arriving, departing and transit passengers that pass through our facilities each year," said Chuck Ada, GIAA executive manager.
The Guam international airport's standards will be assessed during its annual FAA certification inspection scheduled for Sept. 17-21.
Under FAA scrutiny, Guam airport will be tested in 123 fields of federal compliance. "For the past two years, our airport attained a perfect score, with '0' discrepancies reported. We are in the running for a three-year perfect score and are committed to achieving that in all ways possible," Ada said.