“The San Luis Valley is a pretty cool place to live,” says Will Hickman, Manager of San Luis Valley Regional Airport. “I have been here a little over three years and I have fallen in love with it. We have sunlight for 95 percent of the year, which helps make us one of the top agricultural spots for the country – particularly when it comes to potatoes, barley, and wheat. The San Luis Valley grows most, if not all of the barley for Coors Brewing here. Potatoes are our largest crop, and cattle and sheep ranching are also big ag industries here. But from an airport point of view, our largest client is tourism.”

In November of 2020, after a bidding competition, SkyWest Airlines, doing business through United Express Airlines, started flying daily service to Denver. By attracting a major carrier, the San Luis Valley Regional Airport became reclassified as a Class 1 Commercial Service Airport, also known as a Primary Commercial Service Airport.

“This was a big deal for us,” says Hickman, “We also became Part 139 certificated through the FAA and now we have larger, 50-seater, regional jet service. SkyWest flies to Denver International twelve times a week and from there you can connect to any other location in the country, as well as international destinations.”

Despite the trials and tribulations of the pandemic, the airport has seen a lot of infrastructure work leading up to these service changes. Taxiway Alpha was recently fully reconstructed, which is the parallel taxiway along the entire 8521-foot length of the runway. It is 35 feet wide and can accommodate a large variety of aircraft. This was a $7 million project fully funded by an FAA supplemental appropriations grant and included new LED taxiway lighting as well as LED airfield signage. They have also constructed a complete wildlife perimeter security fence; eight miles of fencing protecting over 1700 acres of land, which helps prohibit the incursion of animals such as deer and elk, both of which have been a problem in the past. In addition, the fence creates a safety zone for humans around the airport.

San Luis Valley Regional is also in the process of replacing its aging fuel farm. Construction will be completed soon and will provide the airport with a 12,000-gallon Jet A fuel tank, as well as a 12,000-gallon AvGas tank. This is a significant improvement over their previous capacity and is just one more step along the way to increased operations.

Website: https://businessviewmagazine.com/san-luis-valley-regional-airport-nothing-sunny-days-ahead/

Digital Magazine: https://businessviewmagazine.com/digital-magazines/sept-2021/217/

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