Upgrade for Thief River Falls Airport

Thief River Falls Regional Airport has been awarded $1.6 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for an extension of their runway.

“With the growth of both Digi-Key and the UAV program at Northland College, this airport expansion is important to the Thief River Falls regional economy,” said U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.

Northland Community and Technical College is expanding its aviation maintenance program to include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). They are partnering with the University of North Dakota and their aviation program and the Grand Forks U. S. Air Force Base in creating the program and just received a $5 million federal grant for this program.  However, one of the major requirements is a runway of sufficient length – 7,500 feet. Northland is anticipating many new instructors and student levels approaching 700 per year