"We're absolutely thrilled. This is great," said Rick Lamport, who was Tweed's airport manager from 1998 until last month.
He is among those working on a strategic plan for the airport that includes adding another airline and increasing marketing of US Airways, Tweed's lone carrier.
The $300,000 federal grant will be matched in part by $50,000 from the Regional Growth Partnership, as well as a total of $50,000 in in-kind contributions from several local media outlets, including the New Haven Register.
The money will be used partly on marketing efforts for US Airways in an attempt to increase ridership on the airline, which flies from Tweed to Philadelphia, Lamport said.
"The second priority, of course, is to attract the right kind of second carrier for Tweed," he said.
The grant money could help Tweed workers oversee more ground handling issues at the airport, meaning that airlines wouldn't have to, which would make the airport more attractive to airlines, he said.
US Airways has been the lone carrier serving Tweed since July, when Pan Am Clipper Connection ceased operating at the airport less than five months after its first flight took off there.
Airport and city officials have said that bringing additional airlines to Tweed is essential to its viability.
The two biggest roadblocks Tweed has faced in that effort so far are its limited runway capacity and its funding, said Mayor John DeStefano Jr.
"This is one of the most under-served air markets in the nation," he said, adding that the airport ideally should be able to provide service to several regional airport hubs.
The grant funding has the potential to help grow the airport, which in turn would boost the region's economic development and job base, he said.
"It's a good thing," he said.
Lamport said airport officials would like to bring in a carrier that offers service to Boston.
"We see that as an opportunity," he said, since Boston's Logan International Airport is a large hub where travelers can catch international flights.
"There's an international market."
Expanding service at Tweed is vital to the region's economic development, according to John J. Crawford, interim executive director at the Regional Growth Partnership.
"Enhanced air service from Tweed puts southern Connecticut companies and residents in touch with the global economy and has a positive impact on our rate of economic growth," Crawford said in a written statement.
When the grant application was filed in February, Tweed officials hoped to lure Big Sky Airlines, a Delta connection carrier that offers service to Boston.
It is unclear whether that will pan out or "fall off the table," Lamport said.
If Big Sky is no longer interested, airport officials will pursue other airlines, he said.
"We're only sort of gearing up now," Lamport said, adding that, now that the funding has been secured, airport officials are able to explore various options more in-depth.
A spokeswoman for Delta did not return calls seeking comment on whether Big Sky Airlines was still interested in coming to New Haven.
Another Delta connection carrier, Comair, left Tweed in January 2006 after about a year at the airport, amid financial problems at the airline.
Bringing another airline to Tweed would benefit individual consumers and businesses, said Anthony Rescigno, president of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.
Having more money to spend on marketing also would help, he said.
"When we're able to market more, people will use the planes," he said. "It's going to be a great thing."
