Sierra Blanca Regional Airport (IATA: RUI, ICAO: KSRR, FAA LID: SRR) is a public use airport located on the Fort Stanton mesa 15 nautical miles (28 km) northeast of the central business district of Ruidoso, a village in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. It is owned by the Village of Ruidoso.[1] According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013, it is classified as a general aviation airport.[2]
Sierra Blanca Regional Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Village of Ruidoso | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Ruidoso, New Mexico | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 6,814 ft / 2,077 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°27′46″N 105°32′05″W / 33.46278°N 105.53472°W | ||||||||||||||
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Facilities and aircraft
editSierra Blanca Regional Airport covers an area of 1,665 acres (674 ha) at an elevation of 6,814 feet (2,077 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 6/24 is 8,120 by 100 feet (2,475 x 30 m) and 12/30 is 6,309 by 75 feet (1,923 x 23 m).[1]
For the 12-month period ending December 8, 2022, the airport had 14,278 aircraft operations, an average of 39 per day: 68% general aviation, 24% military, 7% air taxi, and <1% commercial. At that time there were 7 aircraft based at this airport: 6 single-engine, and 1 jet.[1]
History
editThe Sierra Blanca Regional Airport opened on December 11, 1987. It was built to replace the much smaller Ruidoso airport which was located within the city of Ruidoso and had seen many accidents due to its location in a mountain valley.
Ruidoso was served by several commuter airlines between 1976 and 2008 with flights to Albuquerque, El Paso, Midland/Odessa, and Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW). These carriers used such commuter aircraft as the Piper Navajo, Cessna 208 Caravan, Beechcraft 1300, and the Swearingen Metroliner. Among these airlines were: Roswell Airlines (1976-1978), Airways of New Mexico (1978-1979), Wise Airlines (1984), Mesa Airlines (1987-1990), Air Ruidoso (1987-1989), Lone Star Airlines (1995-1997), Rio Grande Air (2001), and Pacific Wings, dba New Mexico Airlines (2008). Lone Star Airlines briefly operated a 32-seat Dornier 328 propjet in 1995 with a flight to DFW that stopped in Roswell. In 2005 American Eagle Airlines announced its intent to serve the airport with nonstop regional jets to DFW on behalf of American Airlines; however, this service did not materialize and the city of Ruidoso later joined into a consortium with other cities in southeastern New Mexico to have American Eagle serve Roswell, New Mexico via the Roswell International Air Center (ROW) airport located 70 miles to the east.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for SRR PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective August 10, 2023.
- ^ National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013: Appendix A: Part 4 (PDF, 1.61 MB) Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. Federal Aviation Administration. Updated 15 October 2008.
- ^ Timetables from the various airlines that have served Ruidoso, NM
External links
edit- Sierra Blanca Regional Airport home page
- Aerial photo as of 18 October 1996 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Terminal Procedures for SRR, effective October 31, 2024
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for SRR
- AirNav airport information for KSRR
- ASN accident history for RUI
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures