The city’s airport in Vicksburg and the Vicksburg-Tallulah Airport in Mound, La., were among the airports across the country receiving aid from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the CARES Airport Grant Program.

In all, more than $10 billion in emergency resources were allocated to airports across the country.

Both the city’s airport, located on U.S. 61 South and the airport in Mound, each received $30,000 grants.

South Ward Alderman Alex Monsour, who oversees the city’s airport, said Ronald Davis, the airport’s director, is set to have a detailed plan on how to use those funds by Wednesday.

“There are a number of capital improvement projects that we would want to apply this to, primarily the roof on one of our hangars,” Monsour said. “We also have a need to upgrade how we accept payments on our fueling system.”

Monsour said the payment system is obsolete and the city is close to losing support on the current system. He said replacing the system was estimated to cost $15,000.

A total of 73 airports in Mississippi received grants totaling nearly $35 million with airports in Jackson, Gulfport-Biloxi, Columbus, Meridian and Tupelo receiving the largest grants. The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport received a grant of $20.9 million, while the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport received $8.5 million

In her announcement Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said the funding will support continuing operations and replace lost revenue resulting from the sharp decline in passenger traffic and other airport business due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The funds are available for airport capital expenditures, airport operating expenses including payroll and utilities and airport debt payments.