Thomas L. Gallagher | Apr 25, 2011 11:52AM EDT
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport was operating at 70 percent capacity Sunday and expects to be up to 85 percent Monday after a powerful tornado struck the facility late Friday leaving extensive damage.
About half the exterior glass of Concourse C was blown in and the roof is missing, following an EF-4 tornado, according to local news reports. The airport has shifted operations for many airlines to other areas. Cargo carriers Integrated Airline Services, DHL, Federal Express and United Parcel Service operate through Lambert.
The first arrivals into Lambert came in late Saturday after full power was restored, the airport said in a statement.
Eleven airlines had scheduled flights on Sunday. American Airlines was expected to resume service from Lambert on Monday morning.
"We give tremendous credit to Ameren for restoring service to Lambert so that the Airport could open just 24 hours after the devastating tornado," said Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge. "Thanks also has to go to the numerous crews and workers who have worked with the Airport to clean up and make emergency repairs to get where we are today."
Prior to the tornado, Lambert operated 256 scheduled departures per day in April.
-- Contact Thomas L. Gallagher at tgallagher@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @TLGjoc.