Farmington Begins Airport Improvements

Friday, October 18, 2019 at 4:36 PM

Friday, October 18, 2019

From the City of Farmington:

The transformation has begun at the Four Corners Regional Airport. Crews started construction September 30 to upgrade the runway to meet federal guidelines for commercial air service. Currently the runway is coded as BII; it will be upgraded to a CII, which consists of extending safety areas on either end of the runway. Funding for the upgrade comes from a $3.45 million Federal Aviation Administration grant for construction and rehabilitation. In addition to the extension, the airfield will be repainted and will receive fog sealing to extend the life of the runway. Farmington City Manager Rob Mayes said, “These runway enhancements will bring the Farmington-Four Corners Airport back into regional relevance by facilitating the return of scheduled jet airline service. The Farmington and Durango communities, and our entire region, benefit when air travelers have options that result in lower airfares due to airlines competing for customers.”

The goal for construction completion is the first of 2020. The City of Farmington anticipates the return of commercial jet service summer 2020. The airport was also awarded an $850,000 Small Community Air Service Development Grant to help market and start up the new jet service. Airport manager Mike Lewis encourages the community to help support the Four Corners Regional Airport, “Farmington and the Four Corners Region have enjoyed a long history of continuous air service since 1947 when Monarch airlines first offered flights to Albuquerque and Denver. Although we lost commercial air service at the end of 2017, we can now look forward to restarting service as early as the first quarter of 2020 with an upgraded airfield and more robust aircraft. While we have the funds to help advertise and boost this service at its beginning, it will be up to the community to once again choose to fly Farmington and continue the more than 70-year long history of commercial airline service that our community has enjoyed.”

Editors notes:

Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett discussed the potential return of commercial air service to Farmington this morning on KSJE:

Airport Manager Mike Lewis discussed his optimism for commercial air service to return to Farmington during an interview on KSJE on September 20, 2019:

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