The first commercial jet that landed on the newly expanded runway at Grand Marais/Cook County Airport on Friday, August 5 was a NetJets plane from the Detroit City Airport. Paul and Carol Schaap of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, were delighted with the runway conditions that allow them to make the trip from Michigan to their Clearwater Lake cabin in less than two hours. (L-R) Paul Schaap, Carol Schaap, Airport Manager Rod Roy and NetJets pilots Doug Koch and Mike Lauffler.
The Grand Marais/Cook County Airport runway reopened for air traffic on Friday, August 5, 2016 and Airport Manager Rod Roy said within 10 minutes several planes had arrived on the newly lengthened, widened and resurfaced runway.
Mike Raymond of Sawtooth Aviation, who had been storing his plane in Silver Bay, was the first plane to arrive. Raymond said it is nice to be back in business in Cook County. “Relocating to Silver Bay wasn’t easy for scenic rides, so we are happy to be back,” said Raymond.
“The new runway is wider, longer, and we hope it will benefit the economy of the county,” he said, adding that the runway improvements will also allow firefighting aircraft to land to refuel, another safety benefit to the county.
Shortly after he landed, Paul and Carol Schaap of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, who have a home on Clearwater Lake up the Gunflint Trail, arrived in the first commercial aircraft. Paul Schaap said, “My wife Carol and I fly NetJets from Detroit City Airport near our home in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. The 1 hour and 30 minute flight is a great improvement over the 16 and a half hour drive.”
This NetJets Cessna Sovereign was the first commercial aircraft to land at the newly expanded Grand Marais/ Cook County Airport on Friday, August 5, 2016.
Roy said the NetJets planes were previously able to land at Grand Marais/ Cook County Airport, but he said with the expanded runway the safety margin has been greatly increased.
The runway improvement took the local airport from 4,200 feet long and 75 feet wide to 5,000 feet long and 100 feet wide. It’s not a vast difference, said Roy, to those who are worried that huge passenger jets will now be descending on the county. But it will make the airport safer and accessible year round, he said.
“It just creates a safer environment for planes of all sizes throughout the year,” he said.
It has taken a long time to get this done, added Roy, noting that the Airport Commission worked hard to see the project through. “I think it’s been 12 years since we started, with the planning and financing and everything.”
The next step is improvements to the airport lobby and office space, so visitors can expect a bit more construction. At the end of July, the airport learned it had received a grant of $118,755 from the U.S. Department of Transportation for improvements, which are long overdue, said Roy. “The building was built in 1994 and we still have the same furniture, carpet, etc. Now that the runway is done, we need the rest of the airport to match,” he said.
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