Santa Fe Regional Airport is a public use airport in Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States, southwest of the city center. The airport serves the greater Santa Fe and Los Alamos areas.
Santa Fe's is the second busiest commercial airport in New Mexico behind the Albuquerque International Sunport. It is one of the highest in elevation in the United States at 6348 feet above sea level. The airport is currently served by American Eagle with regional jet flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix as well as to American’s hubs at Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. It is also served by United Express with regional jets to Denver and Houston. The airport also sees a considerable amount of private jet activity by NetJets and many other companies. There are two fixed base operators: Jet Center at Santa Fe which has a facility just northeast of the terminal and Signature Flight Support SAF in the old terminal building just south of the current terminal.
Since the introduction of regional jet service by major airlines in 2009, the airport has seen a tremendous increase in airline activity with 43,329 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2011 to 142,057 in 2019. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a general aviation airport based on enplanements in 2008, when Santa Fe had no airline service while airport officials awaited federal approval of an environmental impact assessment (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 per year). However, as of the 2019-2023 NPIAS, it is listed as a commercial service - primary nonhub airport.
History The airport first opened in 1941 as a military airfield as the United States entered into World War II. After the war, the airport was sold to the city and all commercial activity was moved from the former Santa Fe Municipal Airport/Boyd Field, which was located off Cerrillos Road between Rodeo Road and Jaguar Drive. The new airport was called the Santa Fe County Municipal Airport until 2018, when the name was changed to Santa Fe Regional Airport. The current terminal building was opened in 1957 and has 11,000 square feet of space. It was renovated in 1988 and again in 2004 and has seen a major expansion starting in 2022. In June 1972, Frontier and Texas International Airlines, the two local service air carriers serving Santa Fe, abruptly ended service, citing unsafe runway conditions after multiple aircraft received prop damage from deteriorating asphalt. Neither carrier ever returned, and the airport then began receiving service by commuter airlines operating much smaller aircraft. In 1983, Santa Fe saw its first code share service by a commuter airline on behalf of a major airline. Smaller 19-seat aircraft were mostly used, with the exception of a brief period in 1997 and 1998, when Santa Fe saw two carriers using 32-seat aircraft.
The airport lost all airline service at the end of 2007 but resumed service in the summer of 2009, when it gained its first major airline code share flights using regional jets. Passenger traffic responded tremendously to the new jet service, and regional jet flights increased from once per day in 2009 to as many as twelve per day in 2019.
To help with the increase in passenger traffic, the terminal was remodeled in 2016 by removing much of the restaurant for added gate space. The airport manager's office was converted to a baggage claim room, while the manager was relocated to a portable building. Aircraft had been parked parallel to the terminal building, accommodating a maximum of two regional jets, but were changed to park head in so that three aircraft could be accommodated. On September 27, 2017, the Santa Fe City Council approved an expansion plan for the airport to better accommodate the current volume of airline service as well as future growth. This includes expanding the terminal with added gate space, a new addition for the baggage claim area and rental cars, and a new parking lot with 750 spaces. Coinciding with the approval of this expansion plan was a renaming of the airport from Santa Fe Municipal Airport to Santa Fe Regional Airport. Funding and planning for the expansion began in 2019. A design was completed by Molzen Corbin in 2021, and the only bid received was by Bradbury Stamm Construction. Work began on February 25, 2022 and was expected to take 12–14 months. The expansion incurred several major delays but was completed in April, 2024, 26 months after work began. The expansion included a 7500 ft addition to the north side of the terminal as well as remodeling of the entire terminal. The parking area was completely rebuilt with the addition of three new long-term lots. The roadway alignment in front of the terminal was redesigned and opened in July, 2024. A second phase of terminal expansion is planned for a 13000 ft addition to the south side of the terminal which will include a new departure gate area and a restaurant. The recently completed addition currently housing a new gate area will be converted to baggage claim. Until then, baggage claim is in a portable building.The Santa Fe Reporter June 12, 2019The Santa Fe New Mexican December 6, 2019The Santa Fe New Mexican March 29, 2022 An extension of Jaguar Road from NM 599 (the Santa Fe Bypass) exit #2 directly to the terminal is also planned for the future.
Historical airline service Santa Fe's first commercial airline service was by Mid Continent Air Express beginning in 1929 operating on a route from El Paso to Denver with stops at Albuquerque, New Mexico, Santa Fe and Las Vegas, New Mexico as well as Pueblo and Colorado Springs, Colorado. The route was replaced with Western Air Express in 1931 and again by Varney Speed Lines, the predecessor of Continental Airlines, in 1934. The southwest division of Varney was operating daily round trip air service flown with a single engine Lockheed Vega aircraft on a routing of El Paso - Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Las Vegas, NM - Pueblo, CO with continuing service operated by Wyoming Air Service on to Colorado Springs, Denver, and Cheyenne, WY. In 1936, the southwest operating division of Varney was acquired by Robert F. Six who in 1937 renamed the air carrier Continental Air Lines which then began operating Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior twin prop aircraft on a daily round trip routing of El Paso - Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Las Vegas, NM - Pueblo, CO - Colorado Springs - Denver. Mr. Six would serve as CEO of the airline until 1981. Thus, Santa Fe was one of the first destinations served by Continental which would become a major domestic and international airline. In 1940, Continental began operating Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar twin prop aircraft and extended single plane service from Santa Fe and Albuquerque to Roswell and Hobbs, New Mexico as well as Midland/Odessa, Big Spring, San Angelo, and San Antonio, Texas. By the mid-1940s, Continental introduced Douglas DC-3 service, followed soon with Convair 240 and Convair 340 aircraft. In 1950, Continental expanded its service by adding more stops along the El Paso to Denver route, including Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences, Socorro, and Raton in New Mexico and Trinidad in Colorado in addition to Santa Fe and the other aforementioned destinations. However all of the new stops had ended by 1955. In 1955, Continental merged with Pioneer Air Lines and took over that carrier's service on the Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Clovis - Lubbock - Abilene - Ft. Worth - Dallas route. By 1959, the airline had introduced its first turbine powered airliner service into Santa Fe with the four engine, British-manufactured Vickers Viscount turboprop operating on four of its six daily flights. By 1963, Continental Airlines was growing rapidly with large jets and began transferring its route authority for its smaller cities to other carriers. The El Paso - Denver route with all the intermediate stops, including Santa Fe, was transferred to Frontier Airlines (1950-1986), and the Albuquerque - Dallas route with all the intermediate stops went to Trans-Texas Airways, which resulted in Continental no longer serving the Santa Fe airport.
Pioneer Air Lines began serving Santa Fe in 1948 with two daily round trip flights operated with Douglas DC-3s on a routing of Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Las Vegas, NM - Tucumcari, NM - Clovis, NM - Lubbock, TX - Abilene, TX - Mineral Wells, TX - Fort Worth, TX - Dallas, and by 1953, the airline was operating Martin 2-0-2 aircraft with direct, no-change-of-plane flights to Houston Hobby Airport making eight stops en route (the stops at Las Vegas, NM and Tucumcari, NM had been dropped). Pioneer was then acquired by and merged into Continental Airlines in 1955.
Trans World Airlines, (TWA), began Santa Fe service in 1948 by adding the city as a stop on its transcontinental mainline route using Douglas DC-3 aircraft. Initially, the daily routing was New York LaGuardia Airport - Pittsburgh - Columbus, OH - Dayton - Chicago Midway Airport - Kansas City - Topeka, KS - Wichita - Amarillo - Santa Fe - Winslow, AZ - Phoenix - Los Angeles. Albuquerque was later added as stop on the way to Winslow, and the Martin 4-0-4 aircraft replaced the DC-3s. By 1959, TWA was operating four engine Lockheed Constellation propliner service into Santa Fe with a daily routing of Chicago Midway Airport - Kansas City - Wichita - Amarillo - Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Los Angeles but only in the westbound direction. TWA's service to Santa Fe ended by late 1960.
Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) began flights to Santa Fe in 1963, replacing Continental Airlines at four stops made on the El Paso - Denver route. Frontier initially operated Douglas DC-3 and Convair 340 prop aircraft. By the mid-1960s, Frontier began operating Convair 580 turboprops from the airport nonstop to Denver and Albuquerque, with direct service to Phoenix, Tucson, and El Paso. In June 1972 Frontier (as well as Texas International Airlines) both ceased operating at Santa Fe citing unsafe runway conditions.
Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) began their Santa Fe service later in 1963, replacing Continental Airlines at all the stops made on the Albuquerque - Dallas route that Continental acquired from Pioneer Air Lines eight years prior. Initially, the carrier used Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft and later upgraded to Convair 600 turboprops. In 1967, TTa had introduced the first jet service into Santa Fe with the Douglas DC-9-10 on nonstop flights to Dallas Love Field with continuing direct service to Houston Hobby Airport. DC-9s were also flown to Albuquerque, Roswell and Midland/Odessa on a flight routing to Dallas and Houston from Santa Fe. Trans-Texas Airways changed its name to Texas International (TI) in 1969 and discontinued DC-9 jet service into Santa Fe by early 1970 but continued to serve the airport with the Convair 600's. In June, 1972, both Texas International and Frontier were forced to suspend all flights citing unsafe runway conditions. Neither carrier ever returned.
During the 1960s and 1970s, several small commuter airlines served Santa Fe, including Bison, Trans Central, The Santa Fe Airline Company, Mountain Air, Trans American Airways, Trans Western Airlines, Zia Airlines and Stahmann Farms. These carriers used a variety of commuter aircraft including Cessna 402's and Piper Navajo's on flights to Albuquerque and Denver. Zia had served Santa Fe from 1974 through 1980, also operating flights to Farmington, New Mexico for a short time and had upgraded to Handley Page Jetstream propjet aircraft in 1979.February 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Santa Fe schedules