The six general aviation airports operated by Minnesota’s Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) collectively grew operations in 2020 by two per cent to total 326,044, or 6,381 more takeoffs and landings than in 2019.

The airports are often referred to as reliever airports because they relieve congestion that would otherwise occur at MAC's major airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP).

The increase bucks the trend of US commercial airports, which suffered steep declines in activity last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MSP reported a 40 per cent decline in operations and a 62 per cent decline in passengers in 2020.

Flying Cloud airport located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota and Airlake airport located in Lakeville, Minnesota drove the operations increase in the MAC reliever airport system. Operations at FCM were up 19 per cent or nearly 20,000 operations, over 2019. LVN activity increased by five per cent over 2019 with nearly 1,500 additional operations in 2020.

Flying Cloud also set some new daily operations records in 2020. On 12 May, FCM was the 13th busiest commercial or general aviation airport in the country, and on 19 June, Flying Cloud marked its eighth busiest day of the past decade with more than 750 flights.

“While the pandemic forced steep declines in corporate travel and business jet activity, it appeared to open up opportunities for more flight training activities and leisure flying in general,” comments Joe Harris, director of reliever airports for the MAC. “People had more time to fly. And for many, it was a great way to get outdoors and see the sights from a safe social distance.”

One of the catalysts for the increase in operations at Flying Cloud was the temporary closure of many universities. Students enrolled in aviation programmes around the United States returned home to the Twin Cities to continue their instruction at one of the many flight schools located at the MAC's system of reliever airports.

However St. Paul Downtown airport, which serves more corporate flying activity, recorded a 26 per cent decrease in operations. STP operations were also limited by reduced air traffic tower hours, also due to the pandemic.

The MAC's three remaining reliever airports, Lake Elmo, Anoka County-Blaine and Crystal each saw a less than five per cent decrease in operations, with ANE down only one per cent.

“As the last year demonstrated, there's a strong demand across our general aviation system. That's why it's so important we continue to invest in infrastructure to make the airports as safe and efficient as possible,” states Brian Ryks, CEO of MAC. “We completed a major runway extension and airfield reconfiguration project at Crystal in 2020, and this year we'll complete a major phase in a $5 million airfield project at Lake Elmo to extend the runway and a parallel taxiway that will incorporate the latest safety measures to support activities there.”

The Lake Elmo project is less than half of the $11.5 million the MAC has budgeted for capital improvements at its general aviation airports in 2021. Aviation demand is also spurring private investment, with more than a dozen hangars completed or under construction in the last year.

The MAC's reliever airport system generates an estimated $756 million a year for the area economy and supports more than 3,600 jobs.