Telluride Regional Airport - Facilities and Aircraft

Facilities and Aircraft

Telluride Regional Airport covers an area of 542 acres (219 ha) and has one runway designated 9/27 which measures 6,911 by 100 feet (2,106 by 30 m). Located on a plateau, the airport's single runway dips slightly in the center. The runway can be a very challenging approach for pilots, particularly those operating commuter aircraft or business jets. During winter months, approximately 20% of the scheduled commuter airline flights end up having to divert to other nearby airports because of abruptly adverse landing conditions. Pilots must contend with high terrain exceeding 14,000 feet (4,300 m) at all quadrants, as well as the airport's location on a plateau with a thousand-foot (300 m) drop to the San Miguel River below.

Pilots must exercise great caution whenever southerly winds exceed 15 knots (some say as little as 8 knots), and be aware of rotors, strong turbulence and down-drafts associated with the plateau cliffs during the approach. Most approaches into Telluride come from the west onto Runway 9, from the direction of Placerville and Sawpit. Pilots must stay on the right side of the valley on approach, to avoid potential traffic conflicts. In addition to all this, touch and go landings are prohibited at TEX, and the minimum traffic pattern altitude for the Telluride area is 10,500 feet (3,200 m) MSL (1,500 feet (460 m) AGL). Residential areas located to the east of the airport are generally avoided by arriving and departing aircraft, for both safety and noise abatement purposes.

For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2007, the airport had 26,709 aircraft operations, an average of 73 per day: 53% air taxi, 35% general aviation and 12% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 42 aircraft based at this airport: 60% single-engine, 21% multi-engine, 7% jet, 2% helicopter and 10% glider.

The airport previously had seasonal nonstop passenger airline service to and from Los Angeles and Phoenix. SkyWest flew Embraer EMB-120 "Brasilia" turboprop aircraft nonstop to Los Angeles while Mesa Airlines operated de Havilland DHC-8 Dash 8 propjets nonstop to Phoenix. Currently, the only passenger air service is provided by Great Lakes Airlines flying Beechcraft 1900D turboprops nonstop to Denver.