St. Cloud Airport Awarded $1.1 Million in Federal Stimulus Money

ST. CLOUD -- The St. Cloud Regional Airport has been awarded nearly $1.1 million in federal funding in the CARES Act. The Federal Aviation Administration announced last week that 97 airports in Minnesota will receive bailout cash totaling $50 billion. Funding is based on enplanements at individual airports.

St. Cloud Regional Airport Director Bill Towle says the money is intended to be used for operating expenses, usually, federal funds can only be used for capital projects.

Towle says the city supports the airport with $600,000 a year from tax money, he says the federal funding will allow the city to redirect that money elsewhere.

We'll be able to pay things like salaries and operating costs of utilities those kinds of things, we're going to be able to pay that with this federal money that's coming in, and then the city can redirect that tax support to some other place in the city.

Towle says the stimulus money will also help the airport cover lost revenue from things like landing fees and user fees for fuel. He says besides a decrease in passenger flights from Allegiant Airlines corporate jet activity is also down.

But, there is still a mix of air traffic from Life Link and North Memorial helicopters, the Minnesota National Guard Helicopters, and training flights are also up.