Colorado Springs Airport , also known as the City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, is a city-owned, public-use, joint civil-military airport located six miles (10 km) southeast of the central business district of Colorado Springs, a city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the second busiest airport in the state of Colorado. The airport is co-located with Peterson Air Force Base, which is located along the north side of runway 12/30.

History

The airport was founded in 1927, the same year Charles Lindbergh made his transatlantic flight. Originally the airport covered an area of 640 acres (2.6 km²) and had two gravel runways. By the late 1930s the first passenger traffic was flowing through the airport on a flight that ran from El Paso, Texas through Pueblo, Colorado, Colorado Springs, and Denver, then back again. The original site was the present day location of the northern municipal power plant, east of Nevada Avenue and south of Winters Street. The first terminal was built in 1940 in an art deco style. Soon after the terminal was built, the field was taken over by the military in the months preceding World War II. After the war, the city regained operations at the airport.

In 1966, a new terminal was built on the west side of the runways, at a new site east of Colorado Springs beyond Powers Boulevard. This terminal was expanded several times throughout the 1970s and 80s. By 1991, the airport consisted of three wide runways, one of which had a length of , making it the longest runway in Colorado until 16R/34L, a long runway, opened at Denver International Airport in September 2003. By 1991, the old terminal could no longer handle the increasing passenger traffic, and the city approved the building of a new terminal on the south side of the airfield.

The new terminal, a 280,000 square foot, 16-gate facility cost $140 million dollars to build. It was opened on October 22, 1994.

On November 2, 2007, Frontier Airlines announced that the carrier's new heavy-maintenance facility would be constructed at the airport. The facility is expected to be completed by summer of 2009. The airline also announced its intentions to commence service between Colorado Springs and its Denver hub in spring 2008. However, the plan was cancelled after Frontier declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Operations

Through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the airport was constantly adding new fares and expanding service. The largest number of passenger arriving and departing the Colorado Springs Airport was in 1996, when the airport handled nearly 5 million passengers. At that time the now defunct Western Pacific Airlines had a hub at the airport. The airline moved their hub to Denver International Airport in late 1996, which caused an abrupt decline in passenger traffic.

Colorado Springs continues to expand service and now offers non-stop service to eleven U.S. cities. Most of the cities that can be reached from the airport are hubs for major airlines. However, Colorado Springs has seen sporadic service to several non-hub cities in recent years.

Facilities and aircraft

City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport covers an area of 7,200 acres (2,914 ha) which contains three paved runways: 17L/35R measuring 13,501 x 150 ft (4,115 x 46 m), 17R/35L measuring 11,022 x 150 ft (3,360 x 46 m) and 12/30 measuring 8,269 x 150 ft (2,520 x 46 m).

For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2006, the airport had 153,244 aircraft operations, an average of 419 per day: 58% general aviation, 18% air taxi, 14% scheduled commercial and 11% military. At that time there were 292 aircraft based at this airport: 50% single-engine, 22% multi-engine, 12% jet, 1% helicopter and 16% military.

The single 16-gate passenger terminal opened on October 22, 1994. It currently serves over 2 million passengers annually.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

On March 3, 1991, United Airlines Flight 585, a Boeing 737-291 flying from Peoria, Illinois to Colorado Springs via Moline, Illinois and Denver, Colorado crashed on final approach to Colorado Springs Runway 35 after a rudder malfunction caused the aircraft to roll over and dive, killing all 25 onboard. The incident was officially closed as undetermined but after investigating a nearly identical crash involving USAir Flight 427 in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, as well as another nearly identical incident involving Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 in 1996 in Richmond, Virginia, the cause of the accident was finally determined.

See also

• List of airports in the Denver area

References

1. Colorado Springs Airport - Colorado Springs Airport History
2. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LAF05302112007-1.htm

External links

• Colorado Springs Municipal Airport at Colorado DOT website