Albuquerque International Sunport
Encyclopedia
Albuquerque International Sunport is a public airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located 3 miles (5 km) southeast of the central business district
Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is where a large number of the city's highrise buildings are located, as well as being the center of government and business for the region....

 of Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

, a city in Bernalillo County
Bernalillo County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*69.4% White*3.0% Black*4.8% Native American*2.3% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.4% Two or more races*16.0% Other races*47.9% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is the largest commercial airport in the state, handling 5,888,811 passengers in 2009. The airport serves Albuquerque and Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

 (also served by Santa Fe Municipal Airport
Santa Fe Municipal Airport
Santa Fe Municipal Airport is a public airport located nine miles southwest of the central business district of Santa Fe, a city in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA...

).

History

Albuquerque in the 1930s was served by two private airports, West Mesa Airport
West Mesa Airport
West Mesa Airport was an airport on Albuquerque, New Mexico's West Side. Built in 1929, it was the city's second airport after the original Albuquerque Airport...

 and Oxnard Field
Oxnard Field
Oxnard Field was the first airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It served as the home of commercial aviation in Albuquerque from 1928 to 1929 and remained in use for other purposes until 1948...

. Around 1935 it was suggested that the city build a new public airport using WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

 money. Having secured $520,500 USD in funding, Governor Clyde Tingley
Clyde Tingley
Clyde K. Tingley was a U.S. politician who served as the 11th Governor of the State of New Mexico. He was a children's healthcare advocate.-Biography:...

 broke ground for the project on February 28, 1937. Albuquerque Municipal Airport opened in 1939 with two paved runways, a Pueblo Style terminal
Airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....

 building designed by Ernest Blumenthal, and a massive hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...

 designed to accommodate the new Boeing 307
Boeing 307
The Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner was the first commercial transport aircraft with a pressurized cabin. This feature allowed the plane to cruise at an altitude of 20,000 ft , well above weather disturbances. The pressure differential was 2.5 psi , so at 14,700 ft the cabin altitude...

.

The Sunport took on a new role in 1940 when it was designated Albuquerque Army Air Base, the precursor to today's Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland...

. The airport continues to share its runways with Kirtland, which also handles rescue and firefighting operations.

The April 1957 OAG shows 31 weekday departures: 13 on Continental, 12 TWA and 6 Frontier.

The present terminal was constructed in 1965 on a site just east of the original terminal. It has since been expanded twice, first in the late 1980s and most recently in 1996. The old terminal has been restored and currently houses offices of the Transportation Security Administration
Transportation Security Administration
The Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....

. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1988.

Future developments

The Airport Master Plan drafted in 2002 lays out intermediate- and long-term projects at the Sunport, including the removal of Runway 17/35 and the construction of a second terminal. The second terminal will be built by demand of increasing traffic. The runway closure recommendation is based on a number of factors, including safety, noise abatement, and the cost of continued upkeep. Because 17/35 intersects all three of the other runways, it has the highest risk of runway incursion
Runway incursion
A runway incursion is an incident where an unauthorized aircraft, vehicle or person is on a runway. This adversely affects runway safety, as it creates the risk that an airplane taking off or landing will collide with the object...

s; therefore air traffic control prefers not to use the runway unless absolutely necessary. The prevailing winds are from the west, and even during strong winds, the other runways can cover departure and landing. Currently, most of the runway's use is general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

.

In the longer term, the plan calls for a new terminal to be built to the northeast of the existing terminal. A people mover
People mover
A people mover or automated people mover is a fully automated, grade-separated mass transit system.The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks, but is sometimes applied to considerably more complex automated...

 system will connect the terminal with parking facilities and the existing terminal.

A major new part of Albuquerque called Mesa del Sol
Mesa del Sol
Mesa del Sol is a proposed mixed use community in Albuquerque, New Mexico.-History:Mesa del Sol was approved as part of a public-private partnership strategy with the State of New Mexico, City of Albuquerque and University of New Mexico and has been planning stages since the 1980s...

 is being developed 5 miles (8 km) south of Albuquerque International Sunport and is planned to house 100,000 inhabitants by 2055.

Facilities and aircraft

Albuquerque International Sunport Airport covers an area of 2039 acres (825.2 ha) which contains four runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

s. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 192,520 aircraft operations, an average of 527 per day: 41% scheduled commercial, 23% air taxi
Air taxi
An air taxi is an air charter passenger or cargo aircraft which operates on an on-demand basis.-Regulation:In the United States, air taxi and air charter operations are governed by Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations , unlike the larger scheduled air carriers which are governed by more...

,
23% general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 and 16% military. There are 322 aircraft based at this airport: 33% multi-engine, 30% single-engine, 18% military, 13% jet and 7% helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

. ABQ's terminal, which was expanded to its present size in the late 1980s and again in 1996, encompasses 574,000 sq ft (53,300 m²). of space. The airport has a Pueblo Revival style
Pueblo Revival Style architecture
The Pueblo Revival style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States which draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions in New Mexico. The style developed at the turn of the 20th century and reached its greatest popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, though it...

 passenger terminal which houses two concourses and an area for commuter airline gates. The count of passengers at the Sunport has seen an average per year increase of 2% over the last 15 years.

The largest passenger aircraft normally scheduled into the Albuquerque International Sunport is the Boeing 757
Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...

, operated by Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

 on flights to and from Atlanta during the spring and summer months, and during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly festival of hot air balloons that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA during early October. The balloon fiesta is a nine day event, and has around 750 balloons...

 in October; Delta also uses the 757 to Minneapolis during this time . United also uses a 757 on the first flight of the day to Denver during Thanksgiving time. The largest overall aircraft the Sunport usually sees is a UPS
UPS Airlines
UPS Airlines is an American cargo airline owned by United Parcel Service Inc. . The company is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. Its home airport is located at Louisville International Airport...

 Airbus A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...

 to Louisville and Ontario. In the past, however, the airport has seen regularly scheduled Lockheed L-1011
Lockheed L-1011
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as the L-1011 or TriStar, is a medium-to-long range, widebody passenger trijet airliner. It was the third widebody airliner to enter commercial operations, following the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Between 1968 and 1984, Lockheed...

 service operated by Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...

.

More recent data from the FAA shows the annual operations for the five year period from 2005-2009 are:

2005: 196,699; 2006: 192,241; 2007: 190,780; 2008: 180,553; 2009: 158,529
The airport's freight center moved 67,000 tons of cargo in 2008.

Airlines and destinations

Albuquerque International Sunport has a single terminal with 25 gates in three concourses, including a concourse for commuter airline gates. Concourse A has 13 gates: A1 - A12, A14. Concourse B has 9 gates: B1, B3-B10 (Gate B2 was removed during the security hall and low B gate bathroom expansion). Concourse E has 2 gates: E1 & E2. Concourse C consisted of three gates (C1, C2, & C3). It was mostly used by Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...

. It was closed in the early 2000s and has mostly been converted to office space. Concourse D was a ground-level commuter aircraft concourse that was used by Great Plains Airlines
Great Plains Airlines
Great Plains Airlines was a regional airline headquartered out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. The airline was founded in 2001 a mix of tax credits and government loans totaling $27 million and expanded rapidly, filing with the Air Transportation Stabilization Board for a guarantee of $17...

 and Rio Grande Air. It was closed in 2004 after Great Plains Airlines liquidated due to insolvency.

Statistics

 Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located southeast of the central business district of the city of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States...

356,000 Southwest, US Airways
2   Denver, CO
Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport , often referred to as DIA, is an airport in Denver, Colorado. By land size, at , it is the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world after King Fahd International Airport and Montréal-Mirabel...

311,000 Frontier, Southwest, United
3   Dallas/Fort Worth, TX 290,000 American
4   Dallas, TX (Love Field) 183,000 Southwest
5   Las Vegas, NV
McCarran International Airport
McCarran International Airport is the principal commercial airport serving Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. The airport is located five miles south of the central business district of Las Vegas, in the unincorporated area of Paradise in Clark County. It covers an area of and...

156,000 Southwest
6   Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...

150,000 American, Southwest, United
7   Atlanta, GA
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield–Jackson, is located seven miles south of the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

136,000 Delta
8   Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City International Airport
Salt Lake City International Airport is a major public airport in Utah. A joint civil-military facility, it is located in western Salt Lake City, approximately four miles from the central business district...

116,000 Delta, Southwest
9   Houston, TX (IAH)
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is a Class B international airport in Houston, Texas, serving the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Located north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59...

99,000 Continental
10   Oakland, CA
Oakland International Airport
Oakland International Airport , also known as Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, is a public airport located south of the central business district of Oakland, a city in Alameda County, California, United States...

78,000 Southwest

General Aviation Support

Support for Private, Corporate and General Aviation aircraft pilots and passengers are handled by two Fixed-Base Operators at Albuquerque International Sunport: Atlantic Aviation and Cutter Aviation. Both are located on the Southeast section of the airport off Clark Carr Loop.

Ground transportation

Bus
ABQ RIDE offers bus service (Routes 50, 222 and 250) at the southside of the baggage claim area.


Commuter train
ABQ RIDE Route 222 provides connecting service to the New Mexico Rail Runner Express
New Mexico Rail Runner Express
The New Mexico Rail Runner Express is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is administered by the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the Mid Region Council of Governments , a regional government planning association, while...

 Bernallilo County/International Sunport
Bernalillo County/International Sunport (Rail Runner station)
Bernalillo County/International Sunport is a station on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line, located in South Valley, New Mexico, United States....

 Station, while ABQ RIDE Route 350 provides nonstop service to the Alvarado Transportation Center
Alvarado Transportation Center
The Alvarado Transportation Center is a multimodal transit hub located at 100 1st Street SW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.The complex was built as a hub for Albuquerque's regional transit system and as a replacement for Albuquerque's previous bus depot and train station...

 in Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is where a large number of the city's highrise buildings are located, as well as being the center of government and business for the region....

. The Rail Runner provides service both north and south of the airport, including Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is where a large number of the city's highrise buildings are located, as well as being the center of government and business for the region....

 and Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

.


Scheduled shuttle bus service
Regularly scheduled bus and shuttle service is provided by various carriers to locations from ABQ to the city as well as Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

.


Taxi
Taxis can be hailed through the Ground Transportation employees outside the baggage claim areas.

Accidents

  • On February 19, 1955, TWA
    Twa
    The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....

     Flight 260
    TWA Flight 260
    TWA Flight 260 was the Trans World Airlines designation for a flight from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Santa Fe, New Mexico in the 1950s. On February 19, 1955, the 40 passenger, Martin 4-0-4 prop plane used by TWA for that route crashed into the Sandia Mountains...

    , a Martin 4-0-4
    Martin 4-0-4
    |-See also:-Bibliography:* Andrade, John. U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979, pp. 95, 217. ISBN 0-904597-22-9....

     bound for Santa Fe
    Santa Fe, New Mexico
    Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

    , crashed into the Sandia Mountains
    Sandia Mountains
    The Sandia Mountains name posu gai hoo-oo, "where water slides down arroyo") are a mountain range located in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, immediately to the east of the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The range is largely within the Cibola National...

     shortly after takeoff. All 16 people on board the flight were killed.

  • On September 11, 1958, an F-102 Delta Dagger
    F-102 Delta Dagger
    The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was a US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet bomber fleets...

     slid off the end of Runway 35 in heavy rain and struck a car on Gibson Boulevard before coming to rest in an empty lot on the north side of the street. Both occupants of the car were killed.


  • On November 3, 1973, National Airlines Flight 27
    National Airlines Flight 27
    On November 3, 1973, a National Airlines DC-10-10 aircraft was operating as a scheduled passenger flight between Miami and San Francisco with intermediate stops at New Orleans, Houston, and Las Vegas ....

    , a McDonnell Douglas DC-10
    McDonnell Douglas DC-10
    The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is a three-engine widebody jet airliner manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 has range for medium- to long-haul flights, capable of carrying a maximum 380 passengers. Its most distinguishing feature is the two turbofan engines mounted on underwing pylons and a...

    , suffered a catastrophic engine failure while en route from Houston
    Houston, Texas
    Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

     to Las Vegas
    Las Vegas, Nevada
    Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

    . Shrapnel from the engine struck the fuselage and caused an explosive decompression of the aircraft. One passenger was blown out of the cabin. The plane was able to make an emergency landing at ABQ.

  • On September 14, 1977, a USAF Boeing EC-135
    Boeing EC-135
    The Boeing EC-135 was a command & control version of the C-135 Stratolifter. Modified for the "Looking Glass" program, during the Cold War EC-135 were airborne 24 hours a day to serve as flying command platforms for the military in the event of nuclear war...

     crashed into the Manzano Mountains
    Manzano Mountains
    The Manzano Mountains are a small mountain range in the central part of the US State of New Mexico. They are oriented north-south and are about 40 miles long. The center of the range lies about 25 miles southeast of Albuquerque, and the northern foothills are just a few miles east of the edge of...

     just after takeoff, killing all 20 people on board.

  • On July 6, 1997, Delta Air Lines
    Delta Air Lines
    Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

     Flight 1470, a Boeing 727
    Boeing 727
    The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...

    suffered a right landing gear failure after landing on Runway 21. While there were no fatalities, 3 people were injured and the aircraft suffered serious damage.

External links

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