Tweed Airport Deal Needs State Lawmakers Before Funds Flow

The long-stalled expansion of [Tweed-New Haven Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweed_New_Haven_Airport) cleared a significant hurdle this week, but the money can’t move until the General Assembly signs off.

East Haven, New Haven, the Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority, and Avports, the private company that manages the airport’s daily operations, sent a joint press release Wednesday outlining a legislative proposal and a Memorandum of Understanding that sets the terms for how the four parties will move forward together. The MOU lays out shared principles. The bill, when it gets filed, will determine whether any of this actually gets funded.

And there is no bill yet.

An Avports spokesperson confirmed that the parties plan to work with the legislature in the coming weeks to get one introduced and passed. That’s a tight runway, given where the General Assembly’s session calendar typically sits in spring.

What East Haven stands to gain

The financial package tilted heavily toward East Haven, which has long been the more resistant partner in the airport’s expansion push. If a new, larger terminal gets built on the East Haven side of the Morris Cove property, the town would be in line for up to $40 million in state bonds to build or renovate public safety facilities. That’s real money for a town with East Haven’s budget constraints.

The proposal also includes up to $5 million in state bonds to the Tweed Airport Authority for road improvements and property access. Critically, that money can’t go toward building the new terminal or new parking. Up to $5 million each would flow to New Haven and East Haven for infrastructure improvements in neighborhoods near the airport, covering roads, stormwater systems, streetscapes, and environmental remediation.

Then there are the payments in lieu of taxes. The proposal calls for a statutorily protected annual PILOT of $4.4 million to East Haven and $2.9 million to New Haven, indexed to inflation. For two municipalities that perennially fight over what the airport owes them, locking that number into statute would be a substantial shift.

Looney: promising, but not done

State Sen. Martin Looney, the Senate President Pro Tempore and a Morris Cove resident who lives near the airport, gave a carefully worded response to the announcement. He’s been skeptical of the expansion before, and he didn’t abandon that caution entirely.

“It is progress that New Haven, East Haven, and the airport authority have reached a framework,” Looney said in a statement sent to the New Haven Independent. “The legislative package will need to go through the full General Assembly, during which we will be able to review the final details. This is a promising foundation, and I am hopeful it can move the project forward in a way that works for the communities most directly affected.”

Still, he ended with a pointed reminder. “Litigation regarding environmental review is still pending,” Looney said.

That’s not a small caveat.

The court case hanging over everything

The Federal Aviation Administration gave the runway extension and terminal construction project a “Finding of No Significant Impact” back in December 2023. Opponents challenged that finding in federal court.

At a U.S. Court of Appeals hearing in December 2025, a lawyer representing environmental nonprofit Save the Sound and the Town of East Haven argued the FAA failed to adequately consider the environmental consequences of filling in tidal wetlands when modifying the taxiway. A judge has not yet issued a ruling.

That case puts the entire deal in a kind of legal suspension. The four parties can negotiate all they want, and the General Assembly can pass a bill, but if the appeals court sides with the plaintiffs, the project’s federal approval could unravel. No approval, no construction. No construction, no PILOT payments, no $40 million for East Haven’s fire stations or police facilities.

What to watch

The parties need to find a legislative sponsor and get a bill drafted, introduced, and moving through committee before the session runs out. That’s doable, but it requires momentum none of these parties have historically sustained for long.

Looney’s involvement will matter. As Pro Tempore, he controls more of the Senate’s agenda than any other member. His willingness to call the MOU a “promising foundation” is a signal, though not a commitment.

The appeals court ruling is the real wildcard. Until that comes down, even the most airtight legislative package sits on uncertain ground.