Cortez Municipal Airport


Cortez Municipal Airport is three miles southwest of Cortez, in Montezuma County, Colorado. It sees one airline, Boutique Air, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

History

Its first airline flights were Monarch DC-3s in 1949; successor Frontier pulled out its Convair 580s in 1982.

Miracle at Cortez

A Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft made an emergency nighttime forced landing August 3, 1959, at the Cortez Municipal Airport. Major H. Mike Hua was on a training flight originating at Laughlin AFB, Texas; the U-2 aircraft engine flamed out at 70,000 feet MSL. Maj. Hua established best glide and was able to navigate through a valley to a lighted airport that wasn't on his map nor did he know of its existence beforehand. The airport was the only one in the area with a runway that was lighted overnight.

Facilities

Cortez Municipal Airport covers 622 acres at an elevation of 5,918 feet. Its one runway, 3/21, is 7,205 by 100 feet asphalt.
In 2019 the airport had 9,834 aircraft operations, average 27 per day: 86% general aviation, 13% air taxi, and <1% military. 26 aircraft were then based at the airport: 85% single-engine, 1% multi-engine, and <1% helicopter. The airport is an uncontrolled airport and has no control tower.

Airline and Destinations

Statistics

Year20082009201020112012201320142015201620172018
Enplanements8,4017,6986,3426,9897,5488,2183,8352,3034,5647,8908,045
Change17.52%8.37%17.61%10.20%8.00%8.88%53.33%39.95%98.18%72.87%1.96%
AirlineGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesGreat Lakes AirlinesBoutique AirBoutique Air
DestinationDenverDenverDenverDenverDenverDenver
----Prescott		DenverDenverDenver
----Page		Denver
----Phoenix
----Show Low		Denver
----Phoenix
----Show Low