Colorado Springs Airport

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City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport
Official Colorado Springs Airport Logo 2015.png
Colorado Springs Airport Terminal Building.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorCity of Colorado Springs
ServesColorado Springs, Colorado
Elevation AMSL6,187 ft / 1,886 m
Coordinates38°48′21″N 104°42′03″W / 38.80583°N 104.70083°W / 38.80583; -104.70083Coordinates: 38°48′21″N 104°42′03″W / 38.80583°N 104.70083°W / 38.80583; -104.70083
WebsiteColorado Springs Airport
Maps
FAA airport diagram
FAA airport diagram
COS is located in Colorado
COS
COS
Location of airport in Colorado
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17L/35R 13,501 4,115 Concrete
17R/35L 11,022 3,360 Asphalt
13/31 8,269 2,520 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Total passengers1,671,757
Aircraft operations135,431
Sources: Colorado Springs Airport[1]

City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (IATA: COS, ICAO: KCOS, FAA LID: COS), known as Colorado Springs Airport, is a city-owned public civil-military airport 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of downtown Colorado Springs, in El Paso County, Colorado, United States.[2] It is the second busiest commercial service airport in the state after Denver International Airport. Peterson Space Force Base, which is located on the north side of runway 13/31, is a tenant of the airport.

History[]

Busy morning ramp

In 1927 the airport opened on 640 acres (260 ha) 7 miles (11 km) east of the city, with two gravel runways. For the first ten years several small airlines operated a mail route from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Pueblo, Colorado with stops at Denver and Colorado Springs. These airlines only occasionally carried passengers. In 1937, Continental Airlines began service between Denver and El Paso, Texas with stops at Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Las Vegas, New Mexico, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque. The first municipal terminal was built in 1942 in an art deco style. Soon after the terminal was built the field was taken over by the military in the months preceding World War II. After the war, the city regained control.

In 1966 a new terminal was built on the west side of the runways, just east of Powers Boulevard. This terminal expanded by the 1980s, with a six gate addition. By 1991 the airport had three 150-foot (46 m) wide runways, one 13,501 feet (4,115 m) long, making it the longest runway in Colorado until 16R/34L, a 16,000-foot (4,900 m) runway, opened at Denver International Airport in September 2003. In 1991 the city approved a new terminal, two miles east of the former terminal, in the south-center part of the airport. The 280,000-square-foot (26,000 m2) terminal opened on October 22, 1994 with 12 gates; it was designed by the Van Sant Group and cost $140 million. In the 1990s a second, five-gate concourse was added on the east side of the main terminal.

In 1996, the 1941 passenger terminal, two hangars, and a caretaker residence — by that time all located on Peterson Air Force Base — were inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places. They form the campus of the Peterson Air and Space Museum.[3][4]

From the 1980s to the present day, the airport has tried to expand service. The largest number of passengers was nearly 5 million in 1996 when now-defunct Western Pacific Airlines had a hub at COS (they moved it to Denver International Airport in late 1996). Their timetable for 15 June shows 33 daily departures to 20 airports between the west coast and Newark and Washington Dulles. Frontier Airlines added and dropped various routes from Colorado Springs throughout the 2010s.[5] Southwest Airlines announced in October 2020 that they would start serving the airport in 2021.[6] Southwest conducted their first flights from Denver International Airport to Colorado Springs and back on March 11, 2021.[7]

In May 2021, the airport began a pavement rehabilitation project, closing runway 17R/35L for remodeling. The upgrades include new asphalt, lighting, and navigation equipment.[8]

Facilities[]

The airport covers 7,200 acres (2,900 ha) and has three paved runways: 17L/35R, 13,501 ft × 150 ft (4,115 m × 46 m) long, 17R/35L, 11,022 ft × 150 ft (3,360 m × 46 m) and 13/31, 8,269 ft × 150 ft (2,520 m × 46 m).[2]

Terminal and gate information[]

Colorado Springs Airport has one terminal with two concourses. However, only one, the larger concourse housing gates 1–12, has ever been put to commercial use; the second concourse (called the Western Pacific Airlines concourse) contains gates 14–18 (there is no gate 13) and is now mainly used for meetings. Access between the concourses requires leaving the secure area, walking through the main terminal and down a long hallway.

Airlines and destinations[]

Passenger[]

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
American Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth [9]
American Eagle Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth [9]
Delta Connection Salt Lake City [10]
Frontier Airlines Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix–Sky Harbor [11]
Southwest Airlines Chicago–Midway, Dallas–Love, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Seasonal: Houston–Hobby, San Antonio (both begin November 23, 2021)[12]
[13]
United Airlines Chicago–O'Hare, Denver [14]
United Express Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles [14]

Cargo[]

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
FedEx Express Memphis, Grand Junction, San Bernardino, Ontario

Statistics[]

Annual traffic[]

Annual passenger traffic at COS airport. See source Wikidata query.

Top destinations[]

Busiest domestic routes from COS
(August 2020 – July 2021)
[15]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 174,820 American
2 Denver, Colorado 147,500 Southwest, United
3 Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona 66,210 Frontier, Southwest
4 Las Vegas, Nevada 64,840 Frontier, Southwest
5 Chicago, Illinois (O'Hare) 43,940 American, United
6 Salt Lake City, Utah 38,250 Delta
7 Dallas–Love, Texas 33,060 Southwest
8 Houston–Intercontinental, Texas 29,660 United
9 Chicago, Illinois (Midway) 23,030 Southwest
10 Los Angeles, California 4,250 United

Airline market share[]

Largest airlines at COS (August 2020 – July 2021)[16]
Rank Airline Passengers Share
1 SkyWest Airlines 356,000 28.41%
2 Southwest Airlines 301,000 24.02%
3 American Airlines 272,000 21.69%
4 Frontier Airlines 160,000 12.79%
5 United Airlines 118,000 9.41%
6 Other 46,220 3.69%

Accidents and incidents[]

  • On March 3, 1991, United Airlines Flight 585, a Boeing 737-291 flying from Peoria, Illinois, to Colorado Springs via Denver, crashed on final approach to Colorado Springs Runway 35 after a rudder malfunction caused the aircraft to roll over and dive, killing all 25 on board.
  • On December 21, 1997, a Beechcraft King Air operated by Aviation Charter flying in from Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport impacted terrain at Colorado Springs Airport in fog during a missed instrument landing system (ILS) approach. Both passengers on board were Northwest Airlines mechanics being flown in to repair a Northwest Airlines aircraft at COS. The pilot and one passenger were killed, the other passenger sustained serious injuries.[17]
  • On April 16, 2018, a fire broke out on the airport's roof. There were no casualties, but the event resulted in the airport being closed for a single day.[18]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Colorado Springs Airport, official website
  2. ^ a b FAA Airport Form 5010 for COS PDF, effective April 26, 2018
  3. ^ Mehls, Steven F. (March 1, 1996), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Original Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (PDF), retrieved February 21, 2018.
  4. ^ National Park Service (November 22, 1996), Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 11/11/96 through 11/15/96, archived from the original on May 26, 2017, retrieved February 21, 2018.
  5. ^ "Frontier cancels seasonal flights out of the Colorado Springs Airport". January 8, 2020.
  6. ^ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southwest-airlines-announces-initial-flight-schedules-for-chicago-ohare-and-colorado-springs-301161941.html[bare URL]
  7. ^ Villanueva, Mia (2021-03-11). "Southwest Airlines touches down at the Colorado Springs Airport". KRDO. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  8. ^ "Airfield Construction Projects". Colorado Springs. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  9. ^ a b "Flight schedules and notifications". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  10. ^ "FLIGHT SCHEDULES". Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Frontier". Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  12. ^ https://wieck-swa-production.s3.amazonaws.com/NovemberBaseScheduleExtension.pdf
  13. ^ "Check Flight Schedules". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Timetable". Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  15. ^ "RITA BTS Transtats - COS". www.transtats.bts.gov. July 2021.
  16. ^ "Colorado Springs, CO: Colorado Springs Airport (COS)". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  17. ^ Accident description for N100BE at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on October 20, 2020.
  18. ^ "Colorado Springs Airport cancels commercial flights after rooftop fire". Denver Post. April 17, 2018.

External links[]

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