Alamogordo–White Sands Regional Airport covers an area of 1,465 acres at an elevation of 4,200 feet above mean sea level. It has two runways: 4/22 is 9,207 by 150 feet with an asphalt surface; 16/34 is 3,512 by 200 feet with a dirt surface. For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009, the airport had 34,460 aircraft operations, an average of 94 per day: 93% general aviation, 5% air taxi, and 2% military. At that time there were 86 aircraft based at this airport: 88% single-engine, 1% multi-engine, 1% jet, 1% helicopter, 6% glider, and 2% ultralight. The airport installed an 8-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array in November 2008, using a $100,000 grant from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The system is estimated to save the airport $100 to $300 per month, and after 2012 when new buyback rate go into effect that amount may rise to $300 to $500 per month in electric costs savings.
Historical airline service
provided the first commercial airline service to Alamogordo, beginning on August 31, 1954, by having their flights between El Paso and Albuquerque make a stop at the city. Douglas DC-3 aircraft were first used, later upgrading to the Convair 340 followed by the four-engine Vickers Viscountturbo prop in 1959. Air service was first operated at Holloman Air Force Base and moved to the Alamogordo Municipal Airport when it opened in late 1959. As Continental was growing into a large airline, service was transferred to Frontier Airlines in 1963. Frontier began flights on the same routing with the 50-seat Convair 580 aircraft however the El Paso flights were later dropped. In the late 1970s, two small commuter airlines began service, Zia Airlines with flights to Albuquerque and Airways of New Mexico to El Paso. By late 1979, Frontier was in the midst of becoming an all jet airline and discontinued its service leaving it to the commuter airlines. Zia ceased operating in early 1980 and Air Midwest began flights to Albuquerque with Swearingen Metroliner aircraft later that year. Airways of New Mexico also began flights to Albuquerque and Air Midwest ended their service in 1981. Airways of New Mexico ceased operating in 1985 at which time Mesa Airlines began service with Beechcraft 99 and Beechcraft 1900 airliners. JetAire, a new commuter airline, also served the Alamogordo to Albuquerque market for a few months in 1985 and for two months in the spring of 1987, Trans Colorado Airlines, operating asContinental Express, provided flights to El Paso using Swearingen Metroliners. Another short-lived commuter airline, Air Ruidoso, briefly provided flights to Albuquerque and El Paso in the spring of 1988. Mesa's service to Albuquerque continued until 2002 when Rio Grande Air was awarded the Essential Air Service contract for subsidized flying to smaller cities. Two years later Rio Grande Air ceased operations and the EAS contract was then awarded to Westward Airlines which only operated for a few months in 2005 before suspending operations as well. The EAS contract was then given to Valley Air Express but this airline was still on the drawing board and never got off the ground. Mesa Airlines was then ordered to return to Alamogordo until early 2008 when Pacific Wings, dba New Mexico Airlines, began service using 9-seat Cessna 208 Caravans. The Caravans's are unpressurized and a much smaller and slower type of aircraft and passenger traffic dwindled causing the EAS subsidies to be cancelled in 2012. New Mexico Airlines ended their flights and the city has not seen airline service since. The city is working with a major carrier to reinstate air service using regional jets.
