ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Lambert International Airport expects an additional $13.5 million in federal funds from the stimulus package passed in December, officials said Wednesday, as passenger traffic remains depressed.
Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said the facility could use that funding in fiscal 2022, which starts July 1. In its current fiscal year, 2021, the airport is drawing down $39 million in remaining federal funds from the initial CARES Act, which mandated that the money be used to fill operating gaps. Lambert got $60 million total from CARES, with $20 million being spent in fiscal 2020, Hamm-Niebruegge said.
Meanwhile, the airport is reporting that during calendar year 2020, passengers totaled 6.3 million, down 60% from 2019. For January 2021, the most recent report available, passenger totals were off nearly 64% compared with January 2020. Right now, the airport counts about 150 flights a day, down from 260 pre-pandemic, the airport said.
But Hamm-Niebruegge told airport commissioners Wednesday that Southwest Airlines, Lambert's largest carrier, had upped connecting traffic at the airport, helping its numbers relative to peer facilities. "We're very grateful to Southwest that they continue to push that through here," said Hamm-Niebruegge, adding that leisure travel is coming back strong, while business traffic is not.
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