Puerto Rico‘s governor on Tuesday approved turning over the operations of Puerto Rico‘s largest airport to a private company as part of an estimated $2.6 billion deal that began under his predecessor and has been fiercely protested.

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said that while he would have managed things differently, the U.S. territory’s government already had committed to the deal.

“Puerto Rico gave its word and we must be firm and transparent in honoring it,” he said in an announcement hours before the deal would have expired, with dozens of protesters gathered outside Garcia’s office pledging civil disobedience in upcoming weeks.

Garcia had faced pressure from unions and legislators from his own party who have criticized the proposed 40-year contract with Aerostar Airport Holdings, saying it will lead to lost jobs, reduced wages and potentially higher costs for passengers.

Garcia, however, said the deal needed to be signed because the island’s Port Authority has to pay a $600 million debt Wednesday and a $340 million debt in June.

“Right now, the Port Authority has zero dollars to invest in this airport,” he said. “As everyone who has visited the airport knows, its infrastructure has to be improved greatly and quickly.”

It is the second U.S. airport to sign a deal under the Federal Aviation Administration‘s pilot privatization program, which was approved in 1996 and aims to allow states or local governments to tap into private funds.

The FAA informed Puerto Rico‘s government late Monday that it had approved the lease deal “subject to certain conditions,” Port Authority Director Victor Suarez said.

Among the requirements is that the Port Authority cannot use airport revenue from other regional airports to compensate Aerostar. It also must submit an annual performance report on its regional airports as well as a transition plan on the 35th year of the agreement.

The FAA said the Port Authority has collected nearly $26 million in passenger facility charges, but the money has not been used for projects that were approved to use those funds. The FAA added that it is unclear whether the unaccounted funds were used for allowable airport purposes, and said that under the deal the Port Authority must submit an audit of that account.

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