Flying Cloud Airport plan unveiled; 45-day comment period opens

The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) has opened a 45-day public comment period for its draft 2040 long-term plan for Flying Cloud Airport (FCM) in Eden Prairie. The plan is intended to provide a high-level framework for planned development at the airport for the next two decades.

The FCM long-term planning process, which began in 2022, includes an assessment of existing airfield facilities and aviation activity forecast analysis through 2040. 

“This plan is our guide to enhance airport safety while accommodating future demand from the various users at Flying Cloud,” said Bridget Rief, the MAC’s vice president of planning and development. “The plan also seeks to explore development opportunities that support both aeronautical and non-aeronautical uses.”

The MAC coordinated the planning process with input from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and stakeholder groups to develop a preferred plan identifying proposed projects across the airport property.

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Highlights include:

• Relocating the Flying Cloud air traffic control tower to a more central location on the airfield to enhance safety and operational efficiency, providing controllers with a better view of the airfield and approaching aircraft.
• Addressing FAA design standard requirements, including improved runway safety with Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) beds at both ends of the primary east-west runway. The MAC says this is its top priority.
• Supporting balanced development and future hangar needs for both corporate and small aircraft, with new hangar space planned in multiple areas of the airfield. The MAC says the greatest future demand is for light jet facilities.

The preferred plan maintains existing operational capabilities, with no proposed changes to runway lengths or locations.

“Flying Cloud is the busiest general aviation airport in the MAC system, and it provides an important base for business aviation, flight training, recreational flying and other services,” said Joe Harris, director of reliever airports for the MAC. “The long-term plan will give us a foundation for strategic improvements that benefits users and balances the needs of surrounding communities.”

Flying Cloud Airport, a three-runway facility that has operated since 1943, recorded 132,744 takeoffs and landings in 2024 – a 3% decline from 2023 – and is home to more than 420 aircraft.

Three-fourths of operations at Flying Cloud are by single-engine aircraft weighing 12,000 pounds or less, according to the MAC. Meanwhile, propeller planes accounted for 86% of noise complaints last year, according to the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission (FCAAC), which advises the MAC and the Eden Prairie City Council on the airport’s operations. Jets accounted for 8% of complaints, turboprop aircraft for 5%, and helicopters for 1%.

Under what the MAC calls its “base scenario,” takeoffs and landings would increase to an estimated 143,298 by 2041, about 8% more than last year. The commission has also projected “low” and “high” scenarios, estimating traffic below and above that base figure.

Considering projected traffic and aircraft mix, the MAC predicts the project would slightly expand the airport’s noise contours, primarily to the east and west. The 60-decibel-plus noise contour is expected to grow by 24.3% compared to 2021, while the 65-decibel-plus contour would increase by 21.2%.

Some of the planned hangar development would be on the easternmost portion of Flying Cloud Fields, potentially eliminating a few athletic fields used by Eden Prairie youth.

The city has long used 65 acres of airport property to operate and maintain ballfields for baseball, football, soccer, and lacrosse. About a year ago, the lease for this property was extended for six years. Under the new agreement, the MAC received $30,000 from the city in 2024, with annual increases of 2.5% through 2029. The lease allows for two additional three-year extensions beyond 2029, “upon mutual agreement of the parties on terms and conditions to be determined at that time.”

Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case said city officials and MAC representatives have discussed the plan, and it appears the vast majority of Flying Cloud Fields will remain available for lease by the city “for at least a decade, if not more.”

As for other aspects of the MAC plan, the mayor noted that it does not change runway lengths, the weight of aircraft allowed, and other key aspects that were part of a 2002 agreement by the city and the MAC. “All the things we have negotiated and come to count on are still there,” he said.

“Am I concerned? Yes,” Case added. “But (the city’s) ability to do much about it? We don’t have that. They are there, and they’re not going away. We have to learn to work with them.”

The airport has a voluntary noise abatement plan that has the FCAAC regularly trying to educate pilots and flight schools.

Case said the city, like the MAC, will listen to residents as they comment on the plan in the coming weeks.

While the draft long-term plan outlines potential airport projects, it does not authorize construction. Once fully approved, the MAC will follow any required environmental review processes and vote on separate budget actions before formally approving specific projects in the plan. All told, the projects outlined in the plan are estimated to cost more than $134 million, nearly half of which would go toward EMAS safety systems at both ends of the main east-west runway.

The MAC is hosting an open house for the public to learn about the long-term planning process and provide input.

Here are the details of that event:

“Discover Flying Cloud Airport” Open House: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, at Hennepin Technical College’s Eden Prairie campus, 13100 College View Drive. Free parking is available onsite.

The draft Flying Cloud 2040 long-term plan is available online, which includes details on the planning process and a link to submit public comments. Written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. Friday, April 4, 2025.