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Travel drops 93% at Portland Jetport amid coronavirus pandemic

The Portland Jetport has seen a huge decrease in the number of travelers, and because of this, it has cut back on operations.

PORTLAND, Maine — Cancelled flights and social distancing, has travelers staying away from the Portland Jetport.

"A lot of our revenues are driven by passengers coming through," said Assistant Airport Director Zachary Sundquist.

Assistant Airport Director Zachary Sundquist said the Jetport has seen a 93 percent decrease in the number of travelers because of the coronavirus, compared to this time last year.

"Our real focus right now is making sure the facility is available so flights can operate to deliver the products, essential staff that need to travel, doctors, ventilator company," said Sundquist.

In order to do that, Sundquist said the Jetport has cut back on staffing, including limiting check-in to a single lane for TSA.

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"We've worked with our concession partners to close many of the concepts so right now Burger King and Down East Marketplace are the two facilities opened," said Sundquist.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it will award approximately $10 billion in funds to commercial and general airports.

The Jetport is expecting to receive between $10-15 million of those funds to support operations during this time.

The Jetport said it has been sanitizing the facility to keep travelers and staff healthy. Airlines are also telling passengers Governor Janet Mills is insisting they self-quarantine for 14 days.

We also reached out to the Bangor International Airport to see how the pandemic is affecting them, we have no heard back.

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RELATED: Portland Jetport funded nearly $4.5 million through U.S. Dept. of Transportation

At NEWS CENTER Maine, we're focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the illness. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: /coronavirus

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