STURGIS, S.D. – The Sturgis Municipal Airport was recently the recipient of the 2020 South Dakota Medium General Aviation Airport of the Year award. The award is presented by the South Dakota Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division during the state airport conference.
The airport is inspected every year by the state. There are several criteria that they look at — is the grass mowed? Do the lights all work? Do the surrounding buildings look nice, neat, and clean? Is it inviting for people to come to?”
The Sturgis airport has made several upgrades during recent years including the addition of several new hangars that are leased out to aircraft owners and the addition of a flight school.
There are approximately 70 public-use airports in the state. 18 are classified as Medium General Aviation. According to the DOT website, a Medium General Aviation classification is described as – Airports that support most twin and single-engine aircraft and may accommodate occasional business jets.
These airports support a regional transportation need. Airports in this category typically have a runway length of at least 4,200 feet, with non-precision or GPS approaches, weather reporting equipment, and on-call repair service.
