MidAmerica St. Louis Airport

MidAmerica St. Louis Airport was created to alleviate crowding at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, but has been criticized as a pork barrel project.[5] Featured several times as a "Fleecing of America" segment on the NBC Nightly News, it was called a "Gateway to Nowhere" by Tom Brokaw, costing taxpayers $313 million.[6] 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 attract international cargo.[7] Congestion at Lambert Airport has not been a problem since American Airlines reduced hub operations by fifty percent in 2003 and a new billion-dollar runway opened in 2006.[8][9]

Passenger service has increased dramatically since Allegiant Airlines restarted service in 2012 with flights to nine destinations and further frequency increases in 2018.[10]

MidAmerica Airport was named "Airport of the Year" in the category for airports that see more than 10,000 passengers annually by the Illinois Department of Transportation in 2018. [11]

Four passenger airlines have started operations at MidAmerica. While the first three went out of business or closed operations at the airport,[12] Allegiant Airlines currently offers eleven destinations:

• On August 16, 2000, Pan American Airways debuted at MidAmerica airport. Pan American Airways (Pan Am) offered non-stop service between Orlando Sanford and St. Louis. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, airline travel dropped significantly across the United States. This drop-off in air travel ultimately affected Pan American Airways service at the fledgling airport.[13][14] Pan American Airways ceased operations at the airport December 3, 2001.
• Great Plains Airlines filed for bankruptcy in January 2004 and ultimately ceased all operations.[13]
• TransMeridian Airlines 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 – including MidAmerica.
• Allegiant Air started service from the St. Clair County-owned airport on April 29, 2005. Allegiant Air offered flights to both McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and Orlando Sanford International Airport until January 3, 2009.[15] However, Allegiant Air resumed operations with twice-weekly direct flights between MidAmerica St. Louis Airport and Orlando/Sanford beginning on November 7, 2012. Since that time, direct flights were added to Fort Lauderdale (FL), Destin / Fort Walton Beach (FL), Jacksonville (FL), Las Vegas (NV), Myrtle Beach (SC), Orlando / Sanford (FL), Phoenix/Mesa (AZ), Punta Gorda (FL), St. Petersburg/Clearwater (FL) and Sarasota (FL). Allegiant operates Airbus A319 and A320 jetliners.

From the onset, the passenger terminal was planned as an expandable facility that would provide passenger accommodations for the initial opening of MidAmerica Airport and allow for easy expansion if needed. The passenger terminal is located in a 250-foot-wide by 700-foot-long terminal building expansion envelope, bounded by a runway and parking lot. The initial build-out provides two upper level departure gates (both have jet bridges) with additional ground-level gates to serve smaller commuter aircraft.

• 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

MidAmerica St. Louis Airport covers 7,003 acres (2,834 ha) and has two runways:[1]

• Runway 14L/32R: 10,000 by 150 feet (3,048 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete, ILS equipped.
• Runway 14R/32L: 8,010 by 150 feet (2,441 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt/Concrete, ILS equipped.

MidAmerica's construction included the creation of the 10,000-foot (3,000 m) 14L/32R (east) runway, adding 1,000 feet (300 m) to the existing west runway, adding passenger and cargo terminals on the east side of the facility, and building a 7,000-foot (2,100 m) taxiway connecting the two runways. A new air traffic control tower staffed by Air Force personnel was also constructed midway between the two runways.[23]

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.[7]

USDOT's most current data indicates 308,000 passengers used BLV between January 2018 and December 2018[3] and the airport was ranked 204th in the United States. USDOT's Calendar Year 2016 data indicated 80,000 enplanements (157,000 total passengers[3]), nearly triple the 2015 total. FAA's Calendar Year 2015 data indicated 32,589 enplanements[2] (63,000 total passengers[3]), nearly double the 2014 total. In calendar year 2014, the airport was ranked 363 in the United States with 16,328 passenger enplanements. This was a 20.57% increase over 2013.[24] In calendar year 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.[25] By comparison, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport was ranked 31 in the United States with over 6.21 million enplanements.

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2010, the airport had 21,508 aircraft operations, an average of 58 per day: 66% military, 34% general aviation, and <1% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 35 military aircraft based at this airport.[1]

Total Passengers (BLV)

Annual Domestic Passenger Traffic, 2005–Present[3]

Year	Total Passengers	% Change
2005	28,000
2006	49,550	76.96%
2007	51,370	3.67%
2008	47,030	8.45%
2009	374	99.20%
2010	274	26.74%
2011	0	100%
2012	3,830
2013	25,550	567.10%
2014	31,340	18.47%
2015	62,730	100.16%
2016	157,433	150.97%
2017	245,028	55.64%
2018	302,409	23.42%
2019	303,801	0.46%
2020	195,431	26.18% Thru October

In late April 2019, the first MQ-25 Stingray test aircraft (T-1 or "Tail 1") was taken by road from Boeing's technical plant at St. Louis's Lambert International Airport across the Mississippi River 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 Federal Aviation Administration’s certifying the aircraft and granting airspace for flight testing.[27] The First test flight occurred on September 19, 2019.[28]

• MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, official site
• Aerial image as of April 1998 from USGS The National Map
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective January 28, 2021
• FAA Terminal Procedures for BLV, effective January 28, 2021

• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for BLV
  • AirNav airport information for KBLV
  • ASN accident history for BLV
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures