MidAmerica St. Louis Airport is a public use airport next to Scott Air Force Base. It is 14

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Tod ...

s (16 mi, 26 km) east of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Belleville and 18

s (21 mi, 33 km) east of downtown St. Louis in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1997, MidAmerica is the secondary domestic passenger airport for the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area, after the larger St. Louis Lambert International Airport. It is a

joint-use airport A joint-use airport is an aerodrome that is used for both military aviation and civil aviation. They typically contain facilities of both a civil airport and a military air base. By country United States The United States has several joint-use ...

and is currently served by one airline: Allegiant Air. In 2018, the airport had 152,278 passenger enplanements in 2018 (302,000 total passengers), according to the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

. It was included in the

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2017–21, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport because it surpassed 10,000 annual enplanements. It is the fifth-busiest of the 12 commercial airports In Illinois. In 2021, a Bureau of Transportation study found it among the nation's five least-expensive airports.

History

MidAmerica St. Louis Airport was created to alleviate crowding at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, but had been criticized as a

pork barrel ''Pork barrel'', or simply ''pork'', is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. The usage originated in American English, and i ...

project. Featured several times on a "Fleecing of America" segment on the '' NBC Nightly News'', it was called a "Gateway to Nowhere" by Tom Brokaw, costing taxpayers $313 million. Supporters credit MidAmerica's additional runway with saving Scott AFB from closure during BRAC 2005. They also describe MidAmerica as a "Gateway to the World", citing a new cargo terminal and customs facility designed to handle international cargo. Congestion at Lambert Airport has not been a problem since

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

halved hub operations in 2003 and a new billion-dollar runway opened in 2006. As of 2021, county taxpayers have plugged nearly $125 million into the airport to fill the airport's deficits. Aside from that, the airport's biggest revenue source is fuel sales to Boeing, which test-flies drones for the U.S. Navy. The airport will be paying its construction debt from 1995 until 2045, costing taxpayers an additional $88 million. Passenger service has increased since Allegiant Air restarted service in 2012 with flights to 12 destinations. In 2018, MidAmerica Airport was named "Airport of the Year" for airports that see more than 10,000 passengers annually by the

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers f ...

Passenger airlines

Four passenger airlines have operated from MidAmerica; as of 2021, only Allegiant Airlines operates there. * On August 16, 2000,

Pan American Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

debuted at MidAmerica airport with non-stop service between Orlando Sanford and St. Louis. The airline was hit hard by the drop in airline travel after the 9/11 attacks, and ceased to operate at the airport on December 3, 2001. *

Great Plains Airlines Great Plains Airlines was a regional airline headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. History The airline was founded by Jack Knight and Jim Swartz to give Oklahoma City and Tulsa travelers affordable quality non-stop service to a number of destinatio ...

began service in late 2003 with flights to Chicago-Midway Airport, Washington-Dulles Airport, and Tulsa. The carrier filed for bankruptcy in January 2004 and ultimately ceased all operations. *

TransMeridian Airlines TransMeridian Airlines was an Atlanta, Georgia based charter airline, operating under U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Regulations Part 121. It ceased all operations on September 29, 2005, after negotiations with creditors to re ...

began service at Mid-America on November 21, 2004. The Atlanta-based airline filed for bankruptcy on September 29, 2005, then ceased service to all destinations. * Allegiant Air started service from the airport on April 29, 2005, offering flights to

McCarran International Airport Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport in Paradise, Nevada, and is the main government airport for public use in the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

and Orlando Sanford International Airport. The airline stopped operating from MidAmerica on January 3, 2009. It resumed service on November 7, 2012, with twice-weekly direct flights between MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and Orlando/Sanford beginning on November 7, 2012. Direct flights have since been added to

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...

, Destin / Fort Walton Beach, Jacksonville, Punta Gorda, St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Sarasota, and Orlando Sanford, all in Florida; Myrtle Beach and Charleston in South Carolina; Phoenix/Mesa, and

Facilities

Passenger facilities

From the onset, the passenger terminal was planned for easy expansion if needed. The passenger terminal sits in a 250-foot-wide by 700-foot-long expansion envelope bounded by a runway and parking lot. The initial build-out has two upper-level departure gates with jet bridges and some ground-level gates to serve smaller commuter aircraft. In September 2020, the airport received $6.5 million in federal grants to expand the terminal. There are four phases to the terminal expansion. The first phase was completed in spring 2020. The second phase began in late 2020 and was to be completed in 2021. The final phase is to be completed by the end of 2023. The project will add 41,000 square feet to the existing terminal. This space will be used for a relocated and upgraded security checkpoint, two additional jet bridges, a service animal relief area, family restrooms, a nursing room, an expanded departure lounge and added room for concessions. It will also better accommodate people with disabilities.

Cargo facilities

* Dual Category II Instrument Landing Systems * Simultaneous instrument approaches * Runway 14L/32R, 10,000 feet * Runway 14R/32L, 8,010 feet * Unconstrained Air Traffic Control and air space environment * Immediate Interstate access via I-64, I-44, I-55 and I-70 * Air cargo facility development sites ranging from 10 to 200+ acres * An initial air cargo ramp of 258,000 square feet or 5.9 acres * An air cargo terminal site adjacent to the ramp * Air rescue and fire Index C facility, capable of adjustment, as operational requirements dictate * New state-of-the-art control tower, 24-hours daily, seven days a week * New fuel farm * Aircraft handling services * Foreign Trade Zone * Enterprise Zone

Runways & Taxiways

MidAmerica St. Louis Airport covers and has two

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

s: * Runway 14L/32R: 10,000 by 150 feet (3,048 x 46 m), surface:

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

, ILS equipped * Runway 14R/32L: 8,010 by 150 feet (2,441 x 46 m), surface:

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

/concrete, ILS equipped MidAmerica's construction included the creation of the 14L/32R (east) runway, adding to the existing west runway, adding passenger and cargo terminals on the east side of the facility, and building a taxiway connecting the two runways. A new air traffic control tower staffed by Air Force personnel was constructed midway between the two runways. In September 2022, construction began on an extension to Taxiway Lima as well as a new Taxiway Bridge over Crooked Creek to connect the airport to a new aviation business park. A new Boeing Production Facility is already underway as the first tenant to build the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Between late 2009 and August 2010, one air cargo company, LAN Cargo, used the airport to import flowers from Bogota, Colombia, totaling one flight each week until the county abruptly ended the flights. Both Boeing Defense, Space & Security and North Bay Produce currently have facilities on site. North Bay Produce primarily ships blueberries from Michigan and Chile into the airport; they use a completely refrigerated warehouse for packaging and distribution. Boeing uses the facility at MidAmerica for sub-assemblies for multiple military aircraft. Boeing and North Bay have recently constructed additions to their facilities at MidAmerica Airport.

Maintenance and operations

The civil operations are administered by St. Clair County, Illinois, which also pays the maintenance costs for the east runway. Over half of all air operations at the facility utilize the eastern runway.

Statistics

USDOT's most current data indicates 308,000 passengers used BLV between January 2018 and December 2018 and the airport was ranked 204th in the United States. USDOT's Calendar Year 2016 data indicated 80,000 enplanements (157,000 total passengers), nearly triple the 2015 total. FAA's Calendar Year 2015 data indicated 32,589 enplanements (63,000 total passengers), nearly double the 2014 total. In

calendar year Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any ...

2014, the airport was ranked 363 in the United States with 16,328 passenger enplanements. This was a 20.57% increase over 2013. In

2013, the dual-use facility was ranked 373 in the United States with 13,542 passenger enplanements. This placed it ninth in the state of Illinois. By comparison, St. Louis Lambert International Airport was ranked 31 in the United States with over 6.21 million enplanements. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2020, the airport had 17,500 aircraft operations, an average of 48 per day: 57%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, 32%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, and 11% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 34 aircraft based at this airport: 27

, 5

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

s, and 2 single engine

airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad ...

s. Total passengers (BLV)

Public transportation

Light rail

Shiloh-Scott St. Louis MetroLink rail station links Scott Air Force Base with direct trains to downtown St. Louis on MetroLink's Red Line. One-ride and all-day tickets can be purchased from vending machines on the platforms. MetroLink lines provide direct or indirect service to St. Louis, the Clayton area, and Illinois suburbs in St. Clair County. The line does not go all the way to the airport; one must either ride a bus or find other transportation in order to reach the station. Funding was approved to extend Metrolink to MidAmerica Airport in 2019.

MetroBus

Five MetroBus lines serve Scott Air Force Base via Shiloh–Scott (St. Louis MetroLink) station.

Flight testing

In late April 2019, the first MQ-25 Stingray test aircraft (T-1 or "Tail 1") was taken by road from

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

's technical plant at St. Louis's Lambert International Airport across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, which is conjoined to Scott Air Force Base. Test flying was expected to commence at MidAmerica late in 2019, after taxi tests and the

’s certifying the aircraft and granting airspace for flight testing. The first test flight occurred on September 19, 2019.

References

External links

MidAmerica St. Louis Airport
official site
Aerial image as of April 1998
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...

'' * * {{Authority control 1997 establishments in Illinois Airports in Greater St. Louis Airports established in 1997 Airports in Illinois Transportation buildings and structures in St. Clair County, Illinois