NASHVILLE, TN - The Nashville International Airport, owned and operated by the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA), recently received a primary entitlement grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for continued rehabilitation and expansion of its Air Cargo Link facility.

"We are very fortunate to receive this assistance from the FAA," Raul Regalado, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, said. "Expanding and renovating the Nashville Air Cargo Link is vital to the economic growth of the Middle Tennessee region."

The FAA grant of more than $4 million will help fund the second phase of the Link project. Totaling $5.5 million, this phase includes expansion of an existing apron for cargo use. This expansion will provide for the operation of multiple wide-body cargo freighter aircraft at the Nashville Air Cargo Link. Also included in Phase II, but under separate funding, is the design and construction of a new cargo terminal facility. In August of 2000, Phase I of the Link project was completed, which included $6.6 million in improvements to the existing cargo facility, cargo apron, taxiway, landside truck terminal and parking lots. The Phase I expansion enabled the addition of two new daily domestic scheduled air cargo services at Nashville International Airport.

The Nashville Air Cargo Link serves freight forwarders, manufacturers, distributors and air cargo carriers that ship goods into and out of the Middle Tennessee region. The Link complex is separate from the passenger facilities at Nashville International Airport.

For more information on services at the Link, please call (615) 275-4444.