Mankato airport receives $11.5M grant from FAA for new air traffic control tower
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Mankato Regional Airport is one of several airports across the country receiving a boost from the Trump administration this week to fund airport improvements.
The Department of Transportation on Monday announced it will be giving out $1.1 billion in grants to scores of airports across the country, including an $11.5 million grant for Mankato’s airport. About $10 million of the grant will go toward building an air traffic control tower, while $1.5 million will be for taxiway improvements.
“To usher in the Golden Age of Travel, we are upgrading airport infrastructure, enhancing safety on our runways and expanding family-friendly features in terminals across the country,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a news release. “This over $1 billion investment includes critical safety tools like vehicle transmitters to ensure our air traffic controllers have the best visibility possible.”
Mankato is planning to spend $31.6 million on the project to build a contract air traffic control tower, which the city hopes will be completed by the spring 2029. The FAA outsources air traffic control services at smaller, low-activity airports. These contract towers are operated by a private company and make up about 265 of the 520 towers nationwide, according to General Aviation News.
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Currently, Mankato Regional Airport has no air traffic control tower. According to Mankato City Manager Susan Arntz, it is the busiest airport in Minnesota operating without an air traffic control tower. Arntz said pilots taking off and landing there rely on flight plans and radio communications to maintain safety.
“It operates with a lot of communication and not as much third-party visual that an air traffic control tower will assist with,” she said. “So by building and constructing, and later staffing an air traffic control tower, it’ll strongly enhance the safety for the users and everyone in the region. We’re excited to be able to be at this place.”
In 2025, Mankato Regional Airport had about 105 aircrafts that were based on the site with single and multi-engine planes, jets and helicopters. The airport conducts 126,000 operations that include take-offs and landings every year.
So far, Mankato has secured $29.6 million in grants, including this latest $11.5 million award, leaving a $2.1 million gap in the amount needed to build the tower. The city has the ability to continue working through the FAA’s other grant programs to help secure additional funding for the airport project.
The project looks to enhance safety and support the Minnesota State University, Mankato’s aeronautics program, which has more than 700 students, and it serves as the main base for aviation training for the school. Arntz said she hopes construction on the tower can start next spring.
“By building this first-ever control tower for the airport, it will also enhance the aeronautics program and allow MSU to consider other programmatic adjustments,” Arntz said. “So, it’s a huge win for many of us in the region.”
Arntz said based on data among airport management, business tenants and general aviation visitor spending, the airport provides about 214 jobs within the region and an estimated economic impact of $23.8 million to the Mankato community.
Other Minnesota airports getting grants via DOT’s Airport Improvement Program include the Wheaton Municipal airport, which is getting $3.2 million to reconstruct a runway; Warroad International Memorial, which received more than $5 million to reconstruct taxiways; Hibbing’s Range Regional Airport will get $3.5 million to reconstruct wildlife perimeter fencing; and Minneapolis-St. Paul International will receive $1.5 million to reconstruct a taxiway and runway lighting.
