 Earlier this month, the St. Paul Downtown Airport marked the opening of “Cora’s Lounge,” located in a converted section of the historic terminal building’s lobby.
Operated by Holman’s Table, the popular restaurant just down the hall, the cozy lounge area allows the restaurant to accommodate more guests.
"If trends continue, it's absolutely going to help us," said Troy Reding, co-owner of the restaurant.
With seating limited to just 50 percent of capacity (10 tables) due to coronavirus social-distancing requirements, Reding and his team asked the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) if it could expand into the airport lobby.
"We want them to succeed so we opened it up and they did a really nice job of decorating the space," said Mike Wilson, manager of the St. Paul Downtown and Crystal airports for the MAC. "It looks like an old-time airport lounge."
In addition to some couches and cozy chairs, the lobby space allows for eight more tables – room for 30 to 35 people with social distancing – to make up for the lost patio seating due to the onset of colder weather.
Cora's Lounge is open from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays. In addition, happy hours in the lounge are from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. That menu features cocktails and small plates such as crab cakes, a hamburger made with organic beef, and mushroom toast.
The lounge is named for Cora M. Fuller who, in 1931, became the first Minnesota woman to get her pilot's license.
A recent bright spot for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) included an uptick in passenger numbers the week of MEA.
The annual Minnesota Educator Academy break wrapped up the weekend of Oct. 16, and managed to spur the biggest week of passenger travel at MSP since the first impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.
In a typical year, the four-day MEA weekend is one of the busiest travel periods for MSP. On Thursday, Oct 15, nearly 17,500 passengers cleared Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, making it the single busiest day since the week of March 16.
“It’s encouraging to see the positive trend in passenger traffic. I believe it reflects the tremendous work MSP, other airports, the airlines, and our federal partners have done in implementing major health safety initiatives for passengers and the public,” said Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP. “I think there’s a pent-up demand to travel again, and it’s merging with the public’s increased confidence about traveling safely.”
Read more at this web page.
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Construction projects at two of the General Aviation airports operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission progressed in the months leading up to another Minnesota winter. Work is set to wrap up soon at Crystal Airport, and a new phase of construction starts soon at Lake Elmo Airport.
At Crystal Airport, major construction is complete, with a new taxiway open and Runway 14/32 undergoing nighttime groove work to increase braking action for planes.
The improvements at Crystal helped align the airfield infrastructure with forecasted levels of flight activity, and enhanced airfield safety by simplifying the layout of runways and taxiways.
Also, a new self-serve fuel system at Crystal has a new pilots’ lounge nearby, in a repurposed conference room in the base of the airport’s air traffic control tower building (pictured above). Read more here.
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At the Lake Elmo Airport, the realignment of 30th Street N. between Manning Avenue and Neal Avenue (pictured) was completed this summer.
In coming months, grading work will begin on the site of the planned new runway and adjacent taxiways.
When the project is complete in 2022, the Lake Elmo Airport will have a new runway, 14/32, and a new parallel taxiway, converted from the existing runway. The lengthened runway will improve safety, address failing infrastructure and better meet the needs of existing airport users and their aircraft operations.
The projects at both Crystal and Lake Elmo followed lengthy periods of planning, environmental assessments and public input.
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As we move ever closer to the holiday season, MSP's strategies for safe and healthy travel remain a top priority for both airline passengers and airport employees.
To ensure we’re keeping your concerns top-of-mind, we’re asking travelers for their feedback via a three-minute survey.
We want to know your expectations regarding air travel and your comfort level with your next flight. Your input will help guide our next steps. And we're tracking traveler sentiment over time, so if you took the survey earlier, feel free to take it again.
Thank you for your help in making air travel safe and comfortable.
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