ST. LOUIS, Missouri — Officials at St. Louis Downtown Airport (KCPS) report that flight operations increased to 101,938 during 2021, the highest total for the airport in the past five years.
The total number of flight operations exceeds 2019 numbers by more than 5%, “which is significant considering the coronavirus pandemic continued to significantly impact flight operations in 2021,” airport officials noted.
The 2021 total represents a 31.2% increase over 2020 flight operations, a strong signal general aviation and business aviation returned to the skies and flew in and out of the closest airport to downtown St. Louis, they added.
“The overall trend for the first quarter of 2022 confirmed the rebound is continuing and is likely to see even greater acceleration due to key events drawing more travelers to the region in the coming months,” said Mary Lamie, executive vice president of multi modal enterprises for Bi-State Development.
Bi-State Development owns and operates the busiest general aviation airport in Illinois, which is located on 1,000 acres in Cahokia Heights and Sauget.
She noted that airport operations were impacted by winter storms for a few days in February 2022, but so far that is the only drop in flight operations that have been recorded in 2022.
Future growth at the airport will be supported by a $5 million state grant recently awarded to the airport from the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital infrastructure plan Governor JB Pritzker signed into law in 2019.
The funding will cover the cost of building a ground engine run-up facility, which is a “critical improvement” that will benefit four aircraft maintenance providers operating at St. Louis Downtown Airport, officials said. The project, which will support more than 450 high-tech aerospace manufacturing jobs, has been in the works for several years and construction is expected to begin later this year.
According to a study by the State of Illinois, St. Louis Downtown Airport contributed more than $422 million in economic impact for the region in 2019. The airport supports recreational, charter, and business flying, as well as flight instruction from St. Louis University Parks College, the nation’s oldest flight school still in operation. Additional activities supported by the airport include government operations, military training, real estate tours, medical transport, aerospace technology research, and glider flying.
For more information: StLouisDowntownAirport.com.