Las Vegas Municipal Airport

Story

Las Vegas Municipal Airport is five miles northeast of Las Vegas, in San Miguel County, New Mexico.The Las Vegas, NM airport was a stop on the original north-south mainline air route between Denver and El Paso that began in 1929. Mid-Continental Air Express first flew the route which included stops at Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque. Western Air Express acquired the route by 1933 followed by Varney Speed Lines in 1934. Varney originally used Lockheed Vega aircraft and evolved into Continental Airlines in 1937 with Lockheed Electra followed by Lockheed Lodestar aircraft. There was an interruption in service for a while during the late 1930s but Continental returned with DC-3 aircraft and stops were added at Trinidad, Colorado as well as at Raton, Socorro, Truth or Consequences, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Continental's service was suspended in 1952 due to airport conditions. A second carrier, Pioneer Airlines also served Las Vegas with DC-3's from 1948 through 1952 on the carrier's route between Albuquerque and Dallas that included stops at Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Tucumcari, Clovis, Lubbock, Abilene, Mineral Wells, and Ft. Worth. Two smaller commuter airlines have since made brief visits to Las Vegas, NM: Trans Central Airlines in 1969/1970 with flights to Albuquerque and Denver on a route similar to that of Continental, and Territorial Airlines in 1990 with flights to Albuquerque and Raton, NM.FacilitiesThe airport covers 1,300acre and has two asphalt runways: 2/20 is 5,004 x 75 ft (1,525 x 23 m) and 14/32 is 8,198 x 75 ft (2,499 x 23 m).