News File Photo Alpena County Regional Airport

ALPENA – The Alpena County Regional Airport is back to normal operations after the recent ice storm shut down airport operations.

Alpena County Regional Airport Manager Mick Higgins said the recent storm impacted day-to-day operations.

“Our last flight went out Sunday evening, after that the weather began to pick up resulting in the closure of the runway from Monday through Wednesday,” Higgins said. “We had to cancel seven flights in total as a result of the storm.”

“The icing is what resulted in the closure, it had nothing to do with the snow accumulation,” Higgins added.

Runway icing severely impacts airport operations by drastically reducing braking action and directional control for aircraft, leading to increased landing distances, significant flight delays, or airport closures, according to Higgins.

Despite the weather closing the runway, the airport itself never lost power, Higgins explained. As a result, the terminal was opened as a warming shelter so individuals could charge their phones and warm up.

“The airport never lost power thankfully, so we opened the terminal up for people to get out of the elements and warm up or charge their devices,” Higgins said.

Currently the airport is back to normal operations as of Thursday afternoon.

“We are completely open and functional, the clean up process continues around the clock as we continue to make progress clearing the runway of any ice accumulation,” Higgins said.

Higgins advises those with flights scheduled to check with the airport prior to arriving for any flights.

“If you have a flight scheduled, please call the airport ahead of time to ensure your flight is still progressing as scheduled,” Higgins said.

Other northern Michigan airports were shut down as a result of the winter storm last weekend, including Traverse City where Cherry Capitol Airport was forced to shut down for 48 hours.

Josh Jambor can be reached at jjambor@thealpenanews.com.