Las Cruces International Airport (IATA: LRU, ICAO: KLRU, FAA LID: LRU) is a city owned, public airport nine miles west of the central business district of Las Cruces, in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. It is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011-2015 which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
LRU is a landing rights airport and is on a mesa overlooking the Mesilla Valley. The airport was the base for Zia Airlines in the 1970s and early 1980s. There have been no scheduled passenger flights to this airport since Westward Airways ceased operations on July 25, 2005.
The airport is used by general aviation, the United States government, New Mexico State University, private charters and the local CAP squadron. National Guard's C Company, 3rd Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment, operates and houses four UH-72 Lakota helicopters at the Las Cruces International Airport. The field retains a terminal in case scheduled flights return to the facility. The nearest commercial air travel is available at El Paso International Airport or Albuquerque International Sunport.
Video Las Cruces International Airport
Historical airline service
Las Cruces has been served by several airlines since the late 1940s. Pioneer Airlines first served the airport in 1948 through 1950 with Douglas DC-3 flights to El Paso and continuing on to Roswell, Clovis, and Amarillo. Continental Airlines came from about 1950 through 1955 with DC-3's and served the airport as a stop on its first mainline route between El Paso and Denver. Other stops included Truth or Consequences, Socorro, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and Raton, NM as well as Trinidad, Pueblo, and Colorado Springs, CO. Frontier Airlines served the airport in 1950-1951 also using DC-3's as a stop on its route between El Paso and Phoenix. Other stops on this route included Deming and Lordsburg, New Mexico as well as Clifton, Safford, and Globe, Arizona. Although three carriers served Las Cruces in 1950, the city then went several years without service until Bison Airlines came in 1963-64. Another ten years went by until Zia Airlines, based in Las Cruces, began service in 1974 with flights to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and El Paso using Cessna 402 aircraft. Zia ceased operating in early 1980 and Stahmann Farms created an airline flying to Albuquerque and Santa Fe for a short time. Airways of New Mexico came for a few years in the early 1980s and JetAire briefly flew in 1985, both carriers with flights to Albuquerque as well. Mesa Airlines began serving Las Cruces in early 1986 with Beechcraft 99 and Beechcraft 1900 airliners to Albuquerque. Mesa's service lasted for 15 years until early 2001. Westward Airlines operated for a brief time in 2004-2005 with Pilatus PC-12 flights to both Albuquerque and Phoenix. Las Cruces has not seen airline service since 2005.
Maps Las Cruces International Airport
Facilities and aircraft
Las Cruces International Airport covers 2,193 acres (887 ha) at an elevation of 4,457 feet (1,358 m) above mean sea level. It has three runways: 4/22 is 7,501 by 106 feet (2,286 x 32 m) asphalt; 8/26 is 6,069 by 100 feet (1,850 x 30 m) asphalt; 12/30 is 7,506 by 100 feet (2,288 x 30 m) concrete.
In the year ending December 31, 2016 the airport had 79,880 total aircraft operations, an average of 219 per day: 67% military, 28% general aviation, and 5% air taxi. 134 aircraft were then based at this airport: 74% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, 2% jet, 3% helicopter, 2.5% glider, 7% ultralight, and 2.5% military.
The airport has two fixed-base operators (FBOs), Southwest Aviation and Francis Aviation. Southwest Aviation provides flight instruction services, aircraft fuel, and facilities to handle corporate aircraft and private charters. Francis Aviation provides aircraft fuel, charters, and facilities to handle corporate aircraft and private charters.Frost Aviation Services also operates at the airport providing flight training services.
References
External links
- Official website
- Aerial image as of October 1996 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Terminal Procedures for LRU, effective October 12, 2017
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for LRU
- AirNav airport information for KLRU
- ASN accident history for LRU
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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