Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), of Brookhaven, and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) announced Tuesday the award of $6.6 million in Airport Improvement Program grants for nine Mississippi airports.

The grants include $2,278,182 to rehabilitate runway and taxiway lighting, and runway and airport beacons at the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Airport.

The AIP grants will be awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration.

“The safe and efficient operation of local airports requires consistent repair and upgrades. These AIP grants will enable such work at several airfields across the state, allowing these communities to continue to use these assets to promote economic development,” Hyde-Smith said. “I’m pleased with these continued investments in our state.”

Wicker also said he was pleased with the FAA grants.

“Improving airport infrastructure makes air travel safer, more efficient and more accessible to the public,” Wicker said.

The remainder of the $6.6 million will be dispersed to:

• Greenwood-Leflore Airport, City of Greenwood, $1.56 million to reconstruct runway lighting
• Houston Municipal Airport, $1.04 million to rehabilitate runway and apron
• Hardy-Anders Field Natchez-Adams County Airport, City of Natchez, $572,928 to rehabilitate runway and taxiway
• Vicksburg Municipal Airport, $276,801 to improve airport drainage and erosion control
• Grenada Municipal Airport, $248,100 to install weather-reporting equipment
• Iuka Mississippi Airport, $234,740 to install weather-reporting equipment
• Roscoe Turner Airport, City of Corinth, $221,464 to update airport master plan/study
• University-Oxford Airport, $207,200 to improve airport drainage and erosion control