St. Paul Downtown Airport runway to close for reconstruction

St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP), one of Minnesota’s busiest airports for business aviation, will close its primary runway on Monday, June 2, for pavement reconstruction and other airfield safety improvements.

The temporary closure of STP’s primary Runway 14-32 will run through Aug. 9 in order to reconstruct a mile-long section and make other modifications including improved lighting and surface drainage. Runway 9-27 and several taxiways, which are connected to the primary runway, will be closed intermittently during the project. A third runway, 13-31, will remain operational for the duration of the project.

“This is the longest general aviation runway in our reliever system of airports and supports a high volume of business jet activity, including international flights,” said Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which owns and operates STP. “We’re replacing end-of-life pavement that was originally installed in the 1980s to continue to maintain a high level of safety, operations and efficiency.”

St. Paul Downtown Airport is one of six general aviation airports operated by the MAC in the Twin Cities to support recreational and corporate flying while relieving congestion from the MAC’s flagship commercial airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). STP had the highest operational growth among MAC general aviation airports in 2024 with 42,476 takeoffs and landings, an 11% increase over 2023. Nearly 100 aircraft are based at STP in various hangar facilities.

The MAC has communicated with STP tenants and users for the last few years ahead of the $12.5 million runway project. Some airport tenants that require the longer runway for aircraft operations are temporarily relocating to other MAC airports during construction to maintain services and operations.

The MAC is also set to begin construction later this year on a new standalone U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility at STP that will improve processing of international passengers and cargo. Overall, the MAC has outlined more than $114 million in projects for all six general aviation airports in its 2025-2027 capital improvement program.