The board in charge of the $6 billion Dulles Rail project, under fire from state and federal officials over its lavish excursions, spends more than $200,000 a year sending board members and staff around the world, from Hawaii to Italy, The Washington Examiner has learned.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, or MWAA, says its spending is a way to generate business for its airports. But The Examiner found that other airport boards with similar duties and responsibilities from New York to Minneapolis spend far less — in some cases, nothing at all — on such travel.